Kharadar Chowk has an interesting history, which the old police post there is also a part of. Built sometime in the early 20th Century, in 1905 or 1907, this 24’x36’ sandstone structure with the sloping dark green wooden roof covering just 65 square yards can also be spotted in a 1926 British map.
Years of neglect and wrong decisions regarding its upkeep have resulted in its recent state of ruin. But it is going to see better days; it so seems now thanks to its having caught the attention of the DIG South Sharjeel Kharal.1
All of that has now been scraped off on the orders of architect and renovation & restoration expert Yasmeen Lari. “It was Zulm (act of cruelty),” she said while talking about the damage done to the little structure previously in the name of beautification. “Building new walls, laying a new floor and covering the sandstone with plaster and paint was a very cruel thing to do to a historic piece of architecture,” she added.
A clay tile with inscribed date of ‘1871’ from one of the walls of the structure indicated that that post may even be older than perceived.
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- 1. “Having always been interested in heritage and preservation of heritage, I want to also protect police heritage, of which there is plenty and just in Karachi but the rest of Sindh as well, especially in Hyderabad, Dadu, Jacobabad, Sanghar, Khairpur, etc,” said DIG Kharal. “This little building from colonial times had been lying abandoned for some 20 years now. And before that, it had grown new walls in its little verandah thanks to some unimaginative minds. Someone had also given it a cement floor despite its beautiful original stone flooring while also covering its stone walls with plaster and paint,” he pointed out.
