Suggestions welcome: ‘Commercialisation must be kept in check’

Walled City residents discuss issues pertaining to commercial activity

LAHORE:

There have been several apprehensions surrounding conservation and commercial activity in the Walled City, architect Kamil Khan Mumtaz said at a meeting of the Lahore Conservation Society held at Delhi Gate on Wednesday.

The meeting was organised by the Walled City of Lahore Authority to give residents of the area an opportunity to share their concerns with architects, urban planners, conservationists and representatives of the WCLA.

Mumtaz addressed some of important issues during his opening speech. Over the past few weeks, he said, he had consulted with the WCLA, residents and traders most of them had complained that there was no democratic mechanism which they could use to affect policy.

He said the issues residents and traders of Azam Market, Shah Alam Market and other markets faced were serious considering people had invested a large amount of money to acquire land in the area. He said problems could not be solved by looking at issues at the micro level. “The Walled City is congested and it is not easy for traders to transport large quantities of goods out of the area,” he said. An alternative could be setting up a trading centre elsewhere in the city which could make markets more accessible, Mumtaz said.

He also addressed some of the concerns residents had about an influx of tourists to the area. He said that he felt that the WCLA could also look into conserving other areas, not just tourist attractions.

“Most people living in old houses do not have the means to restore and maintain their homes. The WCLA could look into restoring those as well…saving the culture of the Walled City is more important than making it attractive for foreign tourists,” he said.

Khawaja Basharat Hussain, a resident of the Walled City whose family has been living there for nine generations, said the WCLA had framed building by-laws, but they were not being implemented or followed. He said the biggest example of that was the construction of basements in buildings. He cited an incident during the Eid holidays in which a 7-storey building in Noor Gali collapsed because the basement had made the structure weak. He said encroachments were an issue and needed to be removed from the Walled City since they had made it difficult for Rescue-1122 vehicles and ambulances to access the area.

“We, the residents of the Walled City, cannot favour traders who are commercialising the area left, right and centre. We want to know that laws will be enforced,” he said. Hussain suggested that commercial areas be clearly defined and commercial construction in residential areas should be fined, as a way to check rapid commercialisation.

WCLA Conservation and Planning Director Najamus Saqib Sheikh said the WACLA, in collaboration with the Aga Khan Foundation, was conducting land mapping to set a limit for commercial activity. He said they were planning on revising the by-laws, especially those relating to basements.

At the end of the meeting, WCLA Social Mobiliser Nosheen Zaidi asked all residents for suggestions on where the WCLA should carry out conservation activity next.

“Gali Surjan Singh was selected because it has the highest number of old houses,” she said.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 30^th, 2015.