Fountains restoration to add to Lahore Fort beauty

LAHORE
History will once again sprout from the fountains of the historic and legendary Lahore Fort after 60 years drought of attention, courtesy Walled City Lahore Authority (WCLA), which is restoring all the dead fountains present in different parts of the monument.
Officials said since taking over the Lahore Fort in its administrative control, WCLA’s special teams started working to restore the dead fountains to restore the beauty of this historic monument. Majority of the fountains installed in Lahore Fort were out of order for long and no attention or effort was given in past on their restoration.
The one central fountain inside Jahangir’s quadrangle has been made functional after 35 years, said a senior official of WCLA, adding that previously only the side fountains were functioning. Similarly, another marble fountain near the toilets area was dead for last 60 years. It has also been restored and made functional. The carving works will soon be cleaned and rebuffed and a careful attempt will be made to bring back its glory. Expert artisans will be used for this purpose.
Restoration work on sand stone fountains is also in progress and they will also be restored. The missing parts will be replaced with the original colour and material. The buffing and cleaning of sand stone will be done carefully to ensure original carving remains intact and enhances the original work.
WCLA is following the international guidelines for the restoration of the Lahore Fort. The water system has been an integral part and WCLA teams are trying their best to revive the lost glory, said Tanya Qureshi, a senior WCLA official.
Director General WCLA Kamran Lashari while talking with The News said Lahore Fort was an international tourist spot and the authority was making every effort to improve this monument. He said the fountains would be functional for the tourists to enjoy the site and feel the real mood of Lahore Fort.
Asif Zaheer, Director Marketing WCLA said water system had been restored by locating the original pipes and water supply was made available to all the fountains. Minor issues will also be resolved in a couple of weeks’ time. The central fountain was dead for last 35 years.
In past, no one bothered to revive it, he said, adding that it was the plumbing team who achieved the task and in near future all the fountains would be made functional. In the Shahjahani Khawabgah, the central platform will be completely restored, rebuffing of marble, floor, stone inlay and cut marble work inside the pond area will be done with the similar type of marble.
Najam-us-Saquib, Director Conservation WCLA said structural restoration of the areas was in the pipeline. “We aim to restore the sites that matter the most and make a difference for the tourists. Rebuffing of marble laid in 2007-8 in the fountains of Jahangir’s Quadrangle will be done to give it a new look and to give the marble its glory. All fountains will be given same attention, which will bring back the lost glory,” he said. Lahore Fort is the only monument in the entire world where water remained an important part of Mughal architecture and no such living example exists in the world where extensive use of water was made inside the building, he concluded.