Senate body for probe of rejection of original design of dargah Sehwan Sharif
By Asghar Ali Mubarak

ISLAMABAD—The Senate Standing Committee on Housing & Works, which met here Thursday under the Chairmanship of Senator Dr. Muhammad Ali Brohi, while reviewing the existing status of re-development work of ‘Dargah’ of Hazral Lal Shahbaz Qalandar (RA) Sehwan Sharif noted with dissatisfaction over the quality of work undertaken by the National Construction Ltd on the project.
The Committee called for immediate removal of the defects in the project and underlined the need for a focused approach to remove the hurdles in the way. It constituted a Committee comprising the stake holders to suggest ways and means for removal of the defects before handing over to the Provincial Auqaf Department.
Members of the Committee observed that the original design prepared by M/s CG Consultants, Karachi was the most relevant design for the shrine, which should have been adopted. It further observed that the redesigning carried out by M/s Samir, a London based firm contained several flaws and the specifications proposed by it were questionable. The Committee recommended that the firm should be blacklisted immediately and the matter should be referred to NAB for inquiry as the redesigning has resulted in raising the cost of the project.
While having briefing on the Phase-III of the construction of Mazar of Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar (RA), Sehwan Sharif, the Committee suggested that redesigning should be done with a view to facilitate the devotees as the current design does not cater to their needs. It also called for revised PC-I of the project.
The meeting was told that the National Economic Council, in one of its meeting approved the project for the construction at the cost of Rs. 234.373 million and the design of the project prepared by NCL was approved by the then Prime Minister. It was further told that after the collapse of the dome of the main Shrine in 1994, a master plan was conceived for reconstruction of entire shrine complex at a total cost Rs. 498.00 million and the project was to be completed in four phases. Regarding the present status of the project, the Committee was told that the structure, internal and external finishes as well as civil works have been fully undertaken and that the project was ready for taking over by the Auqaf Department, Government of Sindh. The Committee was told that a briefing on the present status of the project was also given to the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister has directed that the Shrine may be handed over to the Provincial Government.