It requested the Punjab government to take necessary steps to suspend the on-going conservation work of the mosque till the experts had alternative satisfactory arrangements.
The firm, Aga Khan Trust for Culture Services, tasked with assisting and monitoring conservation activities in the walled city of Lahore, by the Punjab government in July, 2007, wrote to Planning and Development Department Chairman Mr Javaid Aslam about its concerns.
“From the week ending on Dec 16 (Friday) the archeology department’s contractors have started breaking up the 400 years old lime roofing on top of the northern hujras of the mosque,” says the letter written on Dec 27.
“As there was no water-leakage in the hujras from this specific part of the roof, the dismantling of roof was carried out by using the heavy steal mallets and other equipment that caused massive shaking of the fragile masonry work of this 400 years old building.”