Harking Back: Saving our heritage depends on how well we maintain it

In the work of conservation, rebuilding and, most importantly, of maintenance of the old walled city of Lahore, we see a clear segmentation of the work being carried out. This needs to be described after a reasonable amount of research.

For the last two week I have walked through all the 12 gateways, slowly examining conditions, talking to people and absorbing their cutting comments, as well as enjoying their amazing hospitality. I set aside a day for each gateway and walked through scores of ‘mohallahs’, ‘galis’, ‘kuchas’ and ‘katras’. The objective was to bring myself up-to-date on what is taking place. For the last 18 years this has been my pastime, in a way profession, and my deep acquaintance with the people and their city is not only historic in terms of my family, but deeply personal, and a delight.

First a bit about the guidance provided by Unesco to all heritage conservation work in every country that is a member of the United Nations Organisation. Pakistan is one and so the rules very much apply to us, more so as increasingly as the walled city, and Lahore generally, is in their sharp focus. That all of us have inherited a great ancient city is something we should not only be proud of, but also very concerned about.

In 2011, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, with German assistance, conserved and rebuilt Gali Surjan Singh as a ‘demonstration project’. The idea was to show the people of the old walled city just how they can improve their old houses and living conditions. The outcome was terrific and very soon people flocked to the AKTC, some even volunteering to pay the costs. Gali Surjan Singh was a great success then and propelled the Punjab Assembly to pass the WCLA 2012 Act. Now the effort was to be taken over by the Punjab government, in the form of the WCLA.

With AKTC co-operation we saw the emergence of the Shahi Hammam in Delhi Gate, a semi-archaeological effort that saw some excellent conservation, and a little ‘permissible’ rebuilding. The result was a world-class outcome, and probably the finest example of our glorious past. Onwards we saw work start on Masjid Wazir Khan. It is a labour of love and one that will take time. Three major obstacles were faced. One the illegal structures to the south, to the east and in the main courtyard. Given the effort that has taken place one must commend them.

But then again given yet another illegal house touching the south-western minaret of the mosque, we see that water leakage has damaged the mosque foundation structure itself. This is very serious as the minaret has started, increasingly, tilting outwards and if this is not tackled with the next four to five years – so say the experts – the minaret of Masjid Wazir Khan will collapse. Surely the law needs to move in, and move in quickly, to get work started on the minaret’s foundation.

Now comes the very serious issue of the work on the road, in reality a tiled pavement between Delhi Gate and Masjid Wazir Khan. In a number of places the beautiful tile pavement has started to collapse, with deep holes at two places. This is serious and points out to the complete lack of any maintenance. This element can also be seem in the Gali Surjan Singh, where residents complain of no maintenance. A publicity effort was made recently by putting up decoration lights at night and a video released to show the effort. A visit to the place showed this place needs constant attention. But then so do all works of heritage. It seems this element is completely missing.

But then this is a national malaise, for when roads are built the maintenance portion is totally ignored. The bureaucrats and constructors connive to ignore maintenance and roads full of pits are rebuilt every five years. After all ignoring makes money. All over the world roads last at least 100 years, but only with constant maintenance. Surely there is a lesson to be learnt here.

But given this example we have seen that the hundreds of lanes and ‘mohallahs’ have been completely ignored. This was the original aim of the WCLA. It seems they have gone off track. A reassessment is urgently needed. The problems started when the Punjab government handed over the Lahore Fort to the WCLA, and from then onwards the focus has been on the elite only. The poor no longer matter. Also for officials and the organisation it provides excellent publicity and money to work with. Almost the entire attention is now focussed on the Lahore Fort.

To add to their woes the current chief minister has piled on work of shrines as far away as Balochistan. This is bizarre, and takes away from the organisation the reason it was set up. There is need for the WCLA to reflect and refocus on the poor.

A recent meeting of top officials set aside an impressive amount to tackle future heritage work over the next five years. Of this only Rs50 million [five crore] a year has been set aside for the Bhati Gate project. Now this is too meagre an amount given the importance of the work. But then many questions also arise. Does it also mean that the Bhati Gate police structure will be conserved and rebuilt?

Mind you this means a 150-foot long original wall on both sides. This will mean knocking down the houses built on illegal land that has blocked the waste water flow. This problem needs to be kept in mind. The design and work must be shared with the people of the old walled city. Let there be debate among architects and experts.

There was also a plan to reconstruct the Taxali Gateway as it originally stood. Photographs of the original exist. That must also be undertaken if we are to see a major conservation and reconstruction plan come into action. That will be work well worth undertaking. Here the shortage of money needs to be tackled.

The WCLA should, like most universities in the world, have an Endowment Fund in place in which the people of this city as well as all those interested, should place their trust. The profits from this should be set aside for repair and maintenance. This is the best and only way forward.

But the crux of the matter is that there is a need to focus on the poorer portions of the walled city, just like the Gali Surjan Singh example, and not on faraway religious shrines in Balochistan. This is not the territory the WCLA serves. For the Endowment Fund to be a success there is a need for transparency and an image of utter honesty and competence.

Also part of the WCLA plans should be to not only halt the spread of the trading classes, but to push them back to the legally stipulated 15 per cent of the land area of the old city. This should also be a priority as they expand and destroy historic houses. We all love our city, and the best forward is to listen to what the original and current inhabitants say and feel.