LAHORE The Shalimar Gardens, a world heritage site and historical monument of Mughal era which once called Royal Pleasure Garden is fast losing its beauty and attraction owing to dilapidated condition of its walls and floors. During a visit of the garden by this scribe on Monday, it was witnessed that most buildings situated in the garden including Khabgah, Sawan Bhadun pavilions, Shahi Hamam, Diwan-e-Khas-o-Aam and perimeter wall were in sorry state of affairs. Most of its fountains are out of order while the ponds are dry. The debris of waste and garbage are also seen outside the boundary wall of the garden and according to the garden officials they had repeatedly asked the Lahore Waste Management Company to solve the matter on permanent basis but they had not received any positive response as yet. Although, the Punjab Archaeology Department, with the support of UNESCO has been working for the last many years to preserve the beauty of this marvellous garden but still unable to revive its beauty. The department had presented a plan of conservation in 2005 with huge budget of Rs 300 million which was to be completed in eight years. After approving the budget, the department had imported red stone of Rs 20 million to repair the damaged parts made of the red stone. The department did some work including repair of walkways, pavilions (Baradari) and four out of six towers by spending 40 per cent of its allocated budget. An official of the department told TheNation that they had also paid a sum of Rs 50 million to Wasa to secure the garden from rainwater by making waterways outside the boundary wall of the garden. He said the working process of preservation was slow due to sensitivity of work. He further said they could not use any machine while repairing historical monuments to ensure the originality. We try our best to save the art and craft on such sites by using the techniques of Mughal architecture, he said adding, that as the conservation of monuments was a very special operation, different from the requirement of modern structures, artisans trained in these crafts were very much required to achieve desired results. The official said the material used by the Mughal adepts including stones of different kinds and colours, kankar lime and surkhi was also unavailable in the market as it was not being used in modern era. According to a deputy director of Punjab Archaeology Department, they had invited tenders after receiving a fresh instalment of Rs 6 million by Punjab Department for Preservation of the Gardens and they has received bids from 15 contractors. The contractors would be finalised within a week for the conservation work of perimeter wall, middle terrace and Khabghah of the garden, the deputy director maintained. Shalimar Gardens was built by Mughal Emperor Shahjahan in 1641. The stepped garden, which is laid out from south to north in three descending terraces, the uppermost called Farah Bakhash, middle named Faiz Bakhash while the third one is known as Hayat Bakhash. The garden spreads over a total area of 17 hectares, about two-third of which is allocated for plantation while pathways and other architectural features cover the rest of the plan. The 410 fountains, which are divide 105 at upper terrace, 152 at middle and 153 at lower play delectable mystique.