Chauburji losing its splendour

LAHORELahore 'Chauburji, a historic site of the town, is fast losing its grandeur and majestic look owing to sheer negligence of the authorities. Placed in the heart of the city, Chauburji is all the time covered by vehicular smoke and pollution whereof its charm and beauty is decaying fast. The present sorry state of this historic site has come about after year long negligence of the Punjab Archeology Department. Cracks have emerged in the central dome and in all walls of Chauburji. Since the monsoon season set in, rain water has been seen dripping from the cracks of the upper part of the central dome and the interior part of the dome. The original small red bricks have been broken and are missing from various portions of Chauburji. This scribe visited the Chauburji and found that this Mughal era national heritage has been totally ignored by the government and the Archeology Department. This heritage would be vanished slowly one day, if no immediate attention was given to it. This fading out asset needed a complete renovation. The small bricks have been blackened from the whole interior side while the clay mud has also been chipped away from most of the portions of Chauburji. The porcelain mosaics have been vanished from the walls. The peoples said rainwater saturation in the wall and the surface of the mosaic tiles had been damaging the whole structure in many ways. The water steaming down vertically seeped into cracks in the walls or the tiles material itself, causing severe damage to the Chauburji. There have also been big size eight lights erected around Chauburji for throwing lights and enlighten it at nights but those all lights have been out of order for the last two years. The Mughals made the monument and maintained it for many years, then the Sikh rule maintained it with care for 50 years and then the British Rule maintained it with love and care but after the partition this national asset has been totally neglected and one day this glorious historical monument will be vanished due to the negligence of the government and the Archeology Department. According to the people who reside there told that many a times the police arrested proclaimed offenders from inside the Chauburji at night times. Chauburji was once the grand entrance to a lovely Mughal garden on Multan Road. The garden, which is no more, is said to have been laid out in 1646 by Princess Zeb-un-Nisa Makhfi, daughter of Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir and a recognised poetess of her time. Princess Zeb-un-Nisa was an intriguing figure. She never married, but the history tells that she fell in love with an Afghan soldier whom Aurangzeb had killed. Zeb-un-Nisa was a highly talented woman. During a severe earthquake in 1843, the north-western minaret collapsed and cracks appeared in the central arch. This had however been restored as much as was reasonably possible. According to the informations, the Chauburji was last repaired in late 60s and after that time till today the Chauburji had not been renovated or repaired. Besides, Chauburji has been a permanent residence of stray dogs and the homeless peoples, who had come in Lahore from outside the Lahore. This scribe talked to different men there, who told that they had been residing in Chauburji for the last many years while no caretaker of Chauburji was available there during the whole time which this scribe spent there. The peoples who reside there and the other peoples use the surrounding areas of Chauburji for the toilet purposes and there is bad smell due to the human wastes and urinating. The garbage heaps and polythene bags can also be seen every where in the ground of the Chauburji which shows a complete negligence of the concerned departments. An urgent attention was vital for Chauburji from from the responsible departments otherwise this great Mughal monument would be vanished for ever.