Report sought on heritage protection

"The Walled City Act had been enacted to protect it," Advocate Muhammad Azhar Siddique says

LAHORE: Last week, Lahore High Court Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah directed the chief secretary to file a detailed report by the second week of September on measures undertaken for protection of heritage, culture and architecture of the province.

Advocate Muhammad Azhar Siddique submitted that the Walled City was a heritage site. He said the Walled City Act had been enacted to protect it. However, he said, around 400 commercial and high-rise buildings had been constructed in the area since 2002.

He said no building regulations and rules had been promulgated to protect the Walled City. Deputy Attorney General Nasar Ahmad and an Assistant Advocate General agreed with Siddique that there was a need to protect the heritage site.

The court was hearing a petition by Asif Ali Mirza, a resident of Kashmiri Gate. Mirza had submitted that his family was settled in the area for around a hundred years. He said some of the family property had been set aside as a trust in the name of Qasr-i-Abbas Imambargah by his grandfather. He said the waqf deed for the property was executed by his father in 1985.

The petitioner said owners of adjacent properties had constructed multi-storey plazas without obtaining permission for the purpose from the authorities concerned. He said the illegal construction activity had caused damage to the 200-year-old Imambargah.

He requested the court to direct the authorities concerned to take action against those involved in commercial activities and construction of high-rise buildings in the Walled City.

His counsel Azhar Siddique argued that the area had been included in a residential zone and could not be used for commercial purposes. He said because of narrow streets it would be impossible to deal with emergencies like a fire.

Rallies on The Mall

Justice Sajid Mehmood Sethi of Lahore High Court sought replies from the provincial government and the CCPO on a petition seeking contempt proceedings against officials concerned for their failure to implement a court directive banning protest rallies and demonstrations on The Mall.

The judge gave the respondents till August 1 to submit their replies.

The petition was moved on behalf of the Mall Road Traders’ Association. The petitioner’s counsel had submitted that the provincial government had failed to implement a court directive banning rallies and demonstrations on The Mall. He said the lack of implementation of the ban was causing huge financial losses to the traders from markets along The Mall.

He requested the court to initiate contempt proceedings against the respondents on their failure to implement the court order.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 25^th, 2016.