Lahore: Walled City to be rehabilitated in 20 years

[Naveed Yaseen]

WITH the political will and support of the Punjab government and the technical assistance by the Aga Khan Cultural Service, the rehabilitation of the Walled City will be completed within the 20 years under the ongoing Walled City Project.

This was stated by Masood Khan, the technical director Aga Khan Cultural Service, Pakistan, (AKCSP) during a briefing on the Cultural and Sustainable Development Project being executed in the Walled City at Sahahi Hamam, inside Delhi Gate here on Wednesday.

Masood Khan said about 12 per cent work had been completed on the Walled City Project. He said the AKCSP had initiated the project back in 2007 and a considerable amount of work had been done. He said it was a public private partnership project for the preservation, rehabilitation and development of the Walled City. He said the worldís biggest GIS (Geographical Information System) which had 172 attributes to provide all the details about the Walled City, was a result of the detailed surveys conducted about the plots, buildings, streets, roads, historic monuments and places.

Masood said one of the parts of the historic Walled City, Shahi Guzar Gah, starting from the Delhi Gate to the Fort, had been rehabilitated partially. He said it was the work of some eight to nine months and the community and the local residents had also been involved in the project. He said the state of the affairs was very dismal in the Walled city, especially due to the poor distribution system of the utility services and the transport system. He said that the General Bus Stand and its surroundings were the biggest devastating factor for the destruction of the grand cultural heritage and its monumental architectural heritage. He said that Mian Shahbaz Sharifís personal initiative and a strong political had made a lot of difference and made the work easy.

Earlier, the Director General of the Walled City Project Oriya Maqbool Jan told the representatives of the media that the Shahi Hamam at Delhi Gate was the biggest Spa and Royal Baths in the entire central Asia and it had the biggest dome.

He said that the Walled City had been subjected to many atrocities, including fires at the time of independence, especially in the Rang Mehal area, the post-partition scenario even brought the walled city to the brink of extinction with the conversion of a vast area into markets. He said that the General Bus Stand at Badami Bagh was the cancer of Lahore which had eaten up the glory of the Walled City. He said the Walled City project would bring back the lost glory of the Walled City.

Its pertinent to note that the former Prime Minister of Pakistan and the Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Mian Nawaz Sharif was also given a similar briefing on the Walled City Project at the Lahore Fort by Masood Khan and Oriya Maqbool Jan.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=204514