Daily Times

LAHORE: Around 123,000 cubic feet of debris is being removed from Barood Khana, one of the British era buildings, inside Lahore Fort by the Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA), Daily Times learnt on Monday.

So far 69,000 cubic feet debris has been removed from the site and simultaneously the documentation and excavation of the site is in process which will lead to its conservation. The conservation project will be completed by September 2018 with a cost of Rs 24.67 million.

The sources informed Daily Times that the building was hidden under loads of debris which had resulted in the seepage, cracking and weakening of the structure. Barood Khana was damaged due to lack of maintenance since the inception of Pakistan and no attention was paid towards its protection or restoration by the Archaeology Department who had the possession of the Lahore Fort until 2015.

Sources were of the view that the previous conservation schemes for Lahore Fort did not include the Barood Khana as a result the monument had lost its historic function and the architectural appearance. On visiting the site, Daily Times learnt that the teams were working on removal of debris as well as documenting the site. The teams told that it was a difficult task and cleaning the debris was a life threat due to snakes, reptiles and insects inside the debris and plantation.

A local tourist guide Saeed Aziz said that according to the plaque placed on the building it was built in 1857 during British era, for the purpose of storing gun powder and other arsenal material. “Barood Khana is a single story building located at western side of Lahore Fort near Alamgiri gate and Musamam Darwaza, but it was hidden under piles of debris due to which no one could locate its existence. The structure of the Barood Khana was built with the brick masonry and lime mortars in British era. The marks on walls inside the Barood Khana still speak of its use in the past as it has the bullets and arsenal stains on them. He said that during the Mughal era there was a garden here before the construction of Barood Khana. The garden connected the Alamgiri Gate and Musamam Darwaza with the other parts of Fort like Deewan-e-Aam or Sheesh Mahal side. Later during the British era a road was constructed in between to connect the Hathi gate with Diwan-e-Aam thus separating the Alamgiri Gate from the other side. The road is the steep path from where we come into the Fort from the postern gate,” Saeed Aziz added.

WCLA senior architect Azeem Dad Khan, who is presently working on this project, said that the entire structure of Barood Khana was buried under 123,000 cubic feet of debris surrounded by wild plantation. “Our team was stunned at the quantity of the debris as it was never cleared earlier and this place was being used as a debris dumping site. Until now, we have removed 60,000 cubic feet debris from the site and rest is being removed on war footing. We are also assessing the debris and all the old bricks and tiles are being collected and stored by WCLA. The conservation of the building is also being done and is in initial stages of documentation. During visual inspection the majority of damages found were in the form of cracks, bulging in plaster, missing or dismantled brick masonry, missing cornices, damages in wooden doors and ventilators, blackish surface, graffiti on internal side and biological growth around structure. The doors and windows were totally injured because of aging, termites and other woodworms. Considering the venerability of the structure, it is important that for the stability and prolonging of the structure all threats and damages at macro and micro scale should be addressed and encountered and this is what we aim at doing in this present conservation. The remains of the historic flooring pattern and renders are in dilapidated condition which will also be conserved by following given standards of conservation. The drainage of the area is improper and hence percolation of water may reduce the load carrying capacity of the soil underneath. There is a threat that loss of strength of soil due to rain water percolation may result in differential settlement of the structure therefore proper drainage system is essential and we will be doing that too in this conservation and restoration process,” Azeem Dad Khan said.

WCLA Conservation & Planning Director Najam Saqib said that we need to give more attention to historic buildings like Barood Khana for its preservation.

Conservation of facade, floor, roof, windows, doors and other parts of the Barood Khana will be carried out to revive the lost building.

Published in Daily Times, May 22^nd 2018.