Cash flow: 20 days to fix a fountain shut for 26 years at zoo

A lack of maintenance and attention towards the 18-foot high four-layered fountain caused it to deteriorate.

KARACHI:

After a 26-year dry spell, the lions and tigers carved into the 129-year-old fountain at the Karachi Zoo will sprout water once again.

The fountain, which was erected in 1883 jointly by the municipality and NN Poochajee Esquire was dedicated to Sir Jehangir Cowasjee Readymoney, a Parsee called the ‘Peabody of Bombay’, according to the encyclopaedia Britannica.

The 18-foot high four-layered fountain is connected to a 11,000 gallon tank through which water keeps circulating. Over the years, a lack of maintenance and attention towards the fountain caused this piece of the city’s heritage to deteriorate.

The zoo’s recently changed administration decided to restore and reconstruct portions of the fountain and is scheduled to hold a formal opening for it on January 29.

It is unfortunate that it took 26 years for the authorities to dedicate about 20 days and Rs300,000 to restore and reconstruct the historic fountain.

The director for the Karachi Zoo, Bashir Soddozai, explained why. “The maintenance work involved a choked water line which was filled with [dirt] for lack of cleaning and maintenance over the years,” he said. In addition, the water pump was damaged as were the animals carved on the fountain.

The responsibility for the restoration and reconstruction of the fountain has been given to Ali Shah, an artist who has showcased several exhibits and recently made some murals for the Naval headquarters in Islamabad. Elaborating on the extent of the damage to the fountain, Shah said, “Some of the lions and tigers had no noses while others were without eyes and had broken mouths.”

The original fountain was made with Gizri stone, Shah said, but for the repair work he used plaster of Paris, white cement, chemical boric and black cement. “The original fountain was coloured,” he said referring to the use of the brownish Gizri stone in its original form. “Later it was painted grey, then white but after the repairs are complete it will be in colour once again.”

On the other land, while architectural historian and heritage conservationist Yasmeen Lari thinks it is a “good step” to get the fountain running again, she doesn’t agree with the use of cement for the repair work. “If any cement has been used, it would not allow ‘reversibility’, one of the important principles in heritage conservation.” This would mean that at a later time it would be impossible to restore the fountain to its original condition as it will “be next to impossible to dislodge the cement.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 27^th, 2012.