The Punjab Archeology Department (PAD) plans to remove encroachments from monuments and archeological sites recently handed over to it by the Federal Archeology Department (FAD) in Lahore, Daily Times learnt from government officials on Thursday.

The PAD has also decided to make a list of encroachments on and around the monuments protected either by the federal government, the provincial government or the Auqaf Department and the Evacuee Trust Property Board. The meeting was held in compliance with the Chief Justice of Pakistan’s direction in this regard. The officials said the encroachments made with the help of the local authorities had no legal status.

The PAD officials said teams would survey the entire area and would indicate the monuments, which have been erroneously omitted from the protected list.

The officials said the PAD teams would prepare the maps of encroachments with the help of local revenue staff and indicate their legal status. They said the Auqaf Department would submit a list of encroachments as well as the rented shops in the protected monuments.

Archeology department director general Orya Maqbool Jan chaired the meeting. Data Ganj Baksh nazim Tariq Sana Bajwa, Samanabad nazim Mian Javed Ali, Shalimar Town nazim Shafqatun Nisa, town municipal officer Amjad Hussain, Syed Tehseen Haider, Shahdara Monuments project director Saleemul Haq, Khalid Mahmood Baloch of the Evacuee Trust Property Board, PAD director Shahbaz Khan, archeology survey department director Talib Hussian were present on the occasion.

The issue surfaced after the Supreme Court’s (SC) recent decision that all monuments in the Punjab, which were monitored by the FAD under the Antiquities Act 1975 and the Special Premises Act, are handed over to the Punjab government. The SC also directed strict action for the removal of encroachments on the monuments and demolition of the buildings constructed near them.