Culture dept to undo paint job on old buildings on Burns Road

Minister takes notice days after city administration began ‘beautification’ work

Three out of six buildings on Burns Road that were recently painted over under a beautification project by the district authorities were identified as listed heritage buildings on Monday.

"All such buildings will be de-coloured," announced Sindh Culture, Tourism and Antiquities Minister Sardar Ali Shah, taking notice of the matter.

Not long after reports surfaced that the district authorities were planning to pedestrianise the famous food street and add colour to the street by painting over the buildings, architect Marvi Mazhar had taken to Twitter denouncing the beautification initiative. She had called for the culture department's attention over the matter and had maintained that the authorities were not taking into consideration heritage buildings and ancient facades.

Although the work had been initiated following a notification last Wednesday, the painting work has now been halted. Technical experts will soon undo the fresh coats painted over the buildings to preserve their historical value, The Express Tribune learnt.

However, contradictory claims were made by different officials as to how many marked heritage buildings actually exist on the strip of Sharae Liaquat extending from Fresco Chowk and Court Road intersection - the part of the street earmarked for the project.

There seems to be a lack of coordination, said Sindh Archaeology and Antiquities Department Director Abdul Fatah Shaikh, speaking to The Express Tribune. "But I know their intention was to beautify the road."

He added that architects and heritage experts are being contacted to help the department restore the old buildings.

Without naming anyone, Shaikh maintained that a civil society organisation had wanted to colour all the buildings located on both sides of the road. "There are over 60 enlisted buildings. We have asked them to halt the work."

Meanwhile, the provincial culture minister has also constituted a committee under Archeology Director-General Manzoor Ahmed Kanasiro for the purpose. Shah too disclosed that the civil society organisation had coloured the buildings located on Sharae Liaquat without permission.

Earlier, on Wednesday, the district administration had notified the closure of the street for traffic after 7pm as work began to pedestrianise the street. The relevant authorities had been directed to divert traffic towards MA Jinnah Road and the Peoples Square.

Thus far, both sides of the road have been repaired while dozens of different kinds of saplings have been planted.

Paint work had also been initiated on some of the buildings. The ones that were coloured recently are occupied by residents, it was learnt.

"Majority of the residents of these buildings have been living here on rent for years," said Jamaluddin, a resident. "Even the owners of these buildings were not informed of the colouring." Painting over these buildings without repairing them is a joke played on the residents, opined Jamaluddin.

The resident also criticised the authorities for diverting traffic and declaring the area a food street.

Seconding him, another resident, Asif, claimed that the site was not actually a food street. The government had tried to facilitate a few restaurant owners, he added.

Meanwhile, when contacted after the developments on Monday, South Deputy Commissioner Irshad Ahmed Sodhar maintained that only one building has been painted thus far.

With the help of technical and heritage experts, the paintings will be removed, he said, adding that his team would ensure no artificial paint is used during the project.

Contradictions were noted when one senior official, speaking to The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity, maintained that work will continue as planned and that the paint job was part of the beautification process. "There is only one [heritage] building not three," he maintained, adding that the total buildings on the entire road don't add up to 60 either.

The culture minister has maintained, however, that departmental action will be taken against all those officials who did not stop the paint jobs on heritage buildings. In his statement, he also claimed that his department is in close contact with the district administration for the de-colouring process.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 12^th, 2021.