Daily Times

LAHORE: It seems that the Punjab government has become indifferent towards the preservation and maintenance of the historical sites, as the Katas Raj temple is facing many challenges to its conservation and development work.

While showing grave concern, the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) directorate general has declared its maintenance work very poor.

Located in Punjab in Chakwal district, the temple is one of the holiest and Hindu pilgrimage sites in Pakistan where Hindus from all over Pakistan and India frequently visit the site.

Keeping in view the importance of the Katas Raj site, the provincial government initiated a project titled ‘Conservation and Development of Katas Raj Complex’ to restore the monument to its original glory for making it an attractive tourist spot.

The revised approved cost of this project was Rs 114.47 million with a gestation period of 10 years (2006-07 to 2015-16). However, actual expenditure remained Rs 112.65 million (up to March 31) against released amount of Rs 163.35 million – 68.96 % of the total released funds.

According to M&E evolution report on conservation of the temple available with Daily Times, the restoration work has not been done properly, as large numbers of cracks even surface rupture is observed, besides no proper conservation work done on temple stairs. The damaged portions of tread and risers of stairs are clearly visible.

Some serious structural cracks were also observed at number of places in different temples, especially in domes. However, cracks in walls and ceiling were also indicating poor conservation work. Electrification work was also incomplete. Work on lights, switches and other electric features was still pending.

Cleansing of algae growth was part of conservation work, as external elevation of temple was badly affected by algae, but it was observed that no treatment was done to remove algae and still it was giving ugly look.

The report also revealed heavy damages due to excessive leakages and seepage were observed in number of walls of change rooms building, besides glass of many windows were found broken

Condition of manhole was indicating lack of maintenance and ignorance of department. Manhole top covers were either broken or missing.

According to the report, a sum of Rs 9.79 million was spent on water supply. The basic purpose of scheme was to supply water of Katas pond to the surrounding villages, but unfortunately the scheme never became operational.

Surprisingly, the M&E director general did not fix responsibility of anyone and just recommended that the department concerned should keep special focus on the maintenance of Katas Raj Complex due to manifold importance of site.