Talking to The Express Tribune an official of the Archeology Department said that a dome of the mosque was badly damaged and dislocated in earthquake and despite all the efforts of the department and contractors, it could not be restored. He said that there were technical problems in the project.
“There are other difficulties in the restoration of the mosque too. Three contractors have left so far and the fourth one has been arranged. Restoring a Mughal-era building as per the original design is not a child’s play. It requires very careful planning and construction by experts so three contractors excused themselves,” he said, adding that the previous contractors used modern bricks in the restoration of 10 minarets which changed the entire design.
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“Parts of the mosque were constructed and then demolished and the process was repeated again and again as the Archeology Department wanted restoration work to be done as per the original design but the contractors used modern materials and changed the design,” he said.
The supervisor of the restoration project Adnan said that inexperienced contractors were hired for the purpose who then hired inexperienced construction workers and this delayed the whole project.
The restoration work was started in 2018 and the current contractor Khalid claimed that it would took at least two years to complete. He said that the Archeology Department has been informed about it.