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heritage
Ground
reality
Crying for
attention
heritage The architectural charm of the Karachi Port Trust building Karachi, completed 1916 By Dr Noman Ahmed The harbour and port of
Karachi can be undoubtedly considered as the raison d'etre for the choice,
development, expansion and sustenance of the megapolis. The ensemble of
buildings around the marine gateway to the city have a unique significance in
the urban structure of Karachi. In them, the splendid building of Karachi
Port Trust (KPT) occupies a commanding position, both in terms of With the construction of the web of flyovers, there are many vantage points to view various facets of this building. Similarly, as one is approaching the port from I.I. Chundrigar Road or M.A. Jinnah Road, the triangular road junction offers a point for spectacular view of the building. Completed in 1916, KPT Headquarter was designed by famous consulting architect, George Wittet of Bombay. He had several other important buildings to his credit. Arcade at the ground floor and bay window facaded appearance of upper floors was the key design concept. The plan form was composed of a quarter of the circumference of a circle. Soon after the work began, need for the construction of a house was felt which was soon interpolated in the overall design scheme. The chief material of construction has been Gizri stone which was finely dressed to give an even appearance to the building. The style of fenestration became a trendsetter for several buildings in Karachi that were built in the historic quarters of the city. A well proportioned dome signifies the entrance to the edifice in a rather orthodox manner. The plan to elevation ratio constitutes a well dimensioned combination that is responsible for elevating the overall aesthetic treatment of the building. KPT Headquarter is also an important case study with respect to site planning. It possesses a sizable internal open space within its confines for the routine hustle and bustle of office activities. In pre-partition times, KPT Headquarters existed in a quiet precinct. Motorised traffic was very limited. Bulk of cargo movement was facilitated through freight trains while cargo for the city was transported through camel carts. Veteran Karachities nostalgically recall the serenity of the surroundings of this area in those days. Whereas the area and the constituent buildings saw some hectic activities such as the Second World War times when a large war hospital was created in the immediate vicinity of the building, the overall tranquillity of the environment remained intact. Port offices, merchants, clearing and forwarding agents, ship owners, labourers and dock workers were the usual sight in and around the KPT building. However much of this activity remained pedestrian. Thus noise pollution was a non-entity. After partition, the activities gradually intensified but the essential character of the surroundings remained. With the rapid rise in heavy vehicles and container based traffic, the subtle charm of the public space was lost. People now lament that while walking along the property edge of KPT Building, they can barely see the Mereweather Tower -- another prominent landmark -- due to heavy movement of buses, loader trucks and large vehicles. KPT Headquarters now face many issues pertinent to restoration and routine upkeep. At one point in its recent history, the building was painted white which jeopardized the originality of its architectural existence. Thankfully, better sense prevailed and the external appearance has been reverted back to original Gizri stone finish. In some cases, one finds the management callously damaging the internal facades for the fixing of electrical and mechanical accessories. Lack of awareness and an acute dearth of expertise in building restoration is a key issue that awaits attention of the concerned. The KPT Head Office is enlisted in Sindh Cultural Preservation Act of 1994. As an extrapolation to this vital legal initiative, the entire precinct where KPT building is located must be declared a protection zone. There are many important buildings of architectural and historic significance that constitute an interwoven cluster of urban fabric. Besides the area is in desperate need of a traffic management plan to streamline the vehicular flow as well as regulation of undesirable movement of long vehicles. Inundation of sewerage water around this location has become a constant menace to the movement of pedestrians. It must be remembered that the charm of the heritage buildings can be truly experienced and appreciated through pedestrian movement. Unless that dimension is restored, the true glory of this marvel of architecture shall remain diminished behind chaotic traffic jams.
The government has proposed
to relocate Balakot, but all plans are still up in the air By Javed Aziz Khan Relocation of Balakot post-earthquake has been under consideration for the past several months but nothing has been finalised yet. The Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority (ERRA) had announced plans to shift the town to the nearby Bakaryal village, 20 kilometres from the ruins of Balakot city. Deputy Chairman ERRA,
Lieutenant General Nadeem Ahmad, has claimed that the new Balakot will have
facilities of the same standard as Islamabad, and will take three years to
construct. But Around three million people were left homeless after the October 8, 2005 earthquake that affected five NWFP and four Azad Jammu and Kashmir districts. The reconstruction of all these areas is going on in full swing with the assistance of foreign donors to provide new homes as well as other establishments. The estimated total amount for complete reconstruction is US$ 5 billion. Reconstruction in Balakot could not be started, since it has been discovered to be on double fault line. The government was looking to acquire between 12,000 to 20,000 kanals land for the purpose. It was decided that land would be acquired from three villages: Bakaryal, Mongan and Jaba. Sources in ERRA and provincial government disclosed that technical problems started to hinder the project and the sufferers were again only the quake-struck people. "It was supposed that 5,000 kanals land would be acquired from the property owned by the villagers of Mongan but to the disappointment of the authorities, the total land in the village was only 2300 kanals. Another problem was that 1200 families were residing in the town. The authorities did not want to displace another six to seven thousand villagers to accommodate 20,000 people, sources confided to The News on Sunday. Another problem emerged when the land owners in Dhodial agreed to sell their property for the new Balakot city, but the tenants opposed, saying litigation was already going on over the property and the owners could not sell it in such circumstances. Being located on the main
tourist route, the people of Balakot were mainly dependent on tourism related
jobs. Many of the residents are concerned about their livelihood, fearing
they would not be able to run their businesses in Bakaryal, located 20
kilometres from Balakot city and over four A number of other problems also surfaced. It was learnt that a greater part of the new city would be located over granite, a much harder stone to break while digging for construction. "The government had allocated a sum of Rs 400 million for acquiring land for the new Balakot city. However, under a decision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to acquire land for the purpose against market rate, the value was again estimated, and shot up to Rs 2.38 billion, six times higher then the allocated amount," sources maintained. There are many other hindrances that are yet to allow the authorities to select a site. There are two bridges to be constructed on the four kilometre link connecting the main Balakot Road to the proposed city. The sewerage system is to be developed; electricity, telephone and other facilities are yet to be provided to the proposed township so that people can see the development and be attracted towards the project. Now NESPAK has been given the task of conducting a survey and selecting a spot where over 20,000 to 30,000 people can be accommodated. The tehsil nazim of Balakot hopes it won't take more than another month or two as he has been given assurance by the NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani and Lieutenant General Nadeem Ahmad that construction work on the new city will commence very soon. "I have been told by different government offices that the issue is pending due to decision by a higher court regarding fixing of price of the land. Earlier the authorities had planned to buy land against the average rate of the corresponding year but now the government has been directed to pay market rate to the owners. This has raised the figure from Rs 400 million to over 2.38 billion," tehsil nazim Balakot, Junaid Qasim, told TNS. After lapse of some one and half years, thousands of families are still to get their own houses. Many have migrated for fear of landslides. They are living in tents and temporary shelters, waiting for the time when the government will either start work on the new city or let them construct their houses wherever they prefer. Two winters have passed already...
Outside the Gorri Temple, located at about 28km from Nagarparkar in Tharparkar district is a warning sign from the director general, Department of Archeology and Museums, Government of Pakistan which says: 'Under the provisions of Section-19 of the Antiquities Act 1975 (VII of 1976) any person who destroys, damages, alters, disfigures or scribbles, writes or makes any inscription or sign shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with fine or with both.' But sadly enough there is
no guard at the temple to stop people from theft of artifacts or causing
damage to one of the oldest Jain temples in Pakistan. In fact, this site
dating back to 1376 AD has already been damaged quite a bit, and there are
even a large number of bats living here. "There are more than 6 million followers of Jain religion in India. We want to make the Gorri Temple a pilgrimage site for these people and have submitted a master plan to the federal government," says Qasim Ali Qasim, Director, Southern Circle of Archaeology, Department of Archeology and Museums, Government of Pakistan. He added, "unfortunately, we don't have artisans in Pakistan for rehabilitation of temples. We intend to send our artisans to India for necessary training once the Rs 42.390 million Master Plan is approved by the government." Qasim says, "there are 128 archeological sites and monuments in Sindh but we have only 50 chowkidars because of paucity of funds and a ban on recruitment by the government. We get only Rs 800,000 per annum for maintenance. However, the real dearth is of technical staff."
Entrance to the mandapa is through a domed porch on the north that is an eight pillared canopy. Some of the pillars are of white marble and some of limestone plastered with lime. The hall has 28 pillars. After that there is an intermediate chamber called ordhi mandapa. At the end of the temple there is another room named vihara. The entire building is decorated with fresco painting. The state of disrepair is such that the parapet wall of the temple has vanished. --
Shahid Husain
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its
physical perimeter as well as the locational advantage along the docks and
port. Despite the fact that several new buildings in the backdrop of KPT
building now scale higher in profile and geometrical stretch, the grandeur of
this fine piece of pre-independence architecture remains uneclipsed to date.
several months after this announcement was made, nothing can
be seen on ground as neither property has been acquisitioned, nor has any
site been decided.
kilometres away from the Karakoram
Highway. Najeeb Ahmad, originally from Balakot but settled in Mansehra city,
was of the view that majority of the local populace is not in favour of
settling in Bakaryal since it is located at a distance from the Karakoram
Highway. "The tourist route is the major source of income for the local
populace. What will they do when settled 20 kilometres away from their old
business centre?" asked Najeeb.
Gorri Temple was built by
Mengo, a Jain of Parinagar. The temple is an oblong building measuring
externally from north to south 74 feet in length, and from east to west 49
feet in breadth.