Senate body expresses dissatisfaction over work of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar
mausoleum
By Asghar Ali Mubarak

ISLAMABAD—Senate Standing on Housing and Works on Wednesday met at the Parliament House on Wednesday and expressed its utter disappointment and dissatisfaction over the re-development work done on the mausoleum of Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan Sharif by National Construction Limited (NCL) with reference to the dome of the main shrine. The committee met here under the chairmanship of Senator Muhammad Ali Brohi to review the development work executed by the company so far, in light of the earlier visits of the committee members to the Mazar.
The committee expressed its dissatisfaction over Kashi tiles used in the elevation of the Mazar and quality of marble used in Dhamal court. It also directed the ministry to stop forthwith all further payments to executing agency besides fixing the responsibility and completing the project within the same amount already allocated for the purpose.
Terming Phase-I & II of the re-development work as unsatisfactory and below the required standards, the committee further directed the Ministry to get the repair work of the dome, tiles, marble flooring etc done through the NCL from its own funds within one month. The committee also recommended that if the executing agency fails to carry out the repair work within the stipulated period, punitive action be taken against those found responsible including the registration of FIRs and forwarding of the case to National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
It also asked the ministry to furnish a complete list of projects being executed by the NCL all over the country so that the committee could also monitor them.
Speaking on the occasion, the chairman of the committee said that the work was assigned to the NCL in 1994 but it failed to come up to expectations of visitors and devotees who are persistently facing a hardships and problems at the shrine despite spending millions of rupees from the state exchequer. He said that Rs 26 million have already been paid to the marble company but the flooring work done by it was defective and below the required standards.
The committee also recommended that the Chief Secretary Sindh should take action against the DCO and EDO of District Dadu for allegedly altering the decisions of the Senate Committee. It may be mentioned here that the contractors and clients executed the handing over and taking over of the project in complete negation of the instructions given to them by the Senate standing committee in its meeting on January 29, apparently to hide the wrongdoings.
The committee expressed its resolve to expose all those involved in the scam and proceed against them in accordance with the law of the land,however influential they may be. The members of the committee would again undertake a visit to the shrine in the first week of May to access the quality of work.