The warning signs are for all to see. The beauty of a greater part of the interior Lahore is likely to become fodder for history books only. The Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA) has made some seminal efforts to conserve and preserve a number of buildings in the area but these may be confined to historical monuments. So, who will take care of the myriad houses from pre-partition days which are losing face?

Consider the ones (pictured here) in Bhagwan Bazaar, Railway Road. The residents of these still-gorgeous structures seem to have no care in restoring them to their original glory. The intricately designed façades, the aesthetically built balconies, the fetching jharokas, et al. Today, all these little marvels of architecture have been defaced, their charm destroyed not just by the jumble of electricity wires that hover all around them, coupled with streamers by different political parties that are tacked here and there, but primarily at the hands of those who occupy these places.