The road to Ferozepur

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

The roads of Lahore are in many ways more than just ribbons of asphalt that carry people from one place to another - they are like living throbbing arteries that are laced with history, tales of adventure and memories. I have, in the past, written about The Mall, Lawrence Road and Walton Road, but it would be unfair to the city of my birth, if I do not devote some space to more of these bustling avenues.
Ferozepur Road, as the name suggests, once linked Lahore with the historic city of Ferozepur that now lies on the other side of the border with India. However, since the boundaries of this column are restricted to the administrative map of Metropolitan Lahore, I shall confine my journey along this historic route within these limits.
Our journey begins at Mozang Chungi, named partly after the nearby village of Mozang that lay one day’s travel from the walled city. Historical records show that this village was notorious, as many of its residents earned their livelihood by waylaying travellers and caravans to and from Lahore.
Bahawalpur House stands a stone’s throw distance from the south of Mozang Chungi. It was built in the 1890s, as a residence for the young Nawab when he was a student at the Chief’s (or Aitcheson) College. At some later point in time when the chungi became a junction of several roads, a toll collection barrier was set up here. The toll barrier is no more, but the spot is now almost the centre of the great Lahori metropolis.
The next village on this route was Ichra, whose population was predominantly Hindu. The place was a well known spot to travellers, who could replenish themselves from its well stocked shops. Ichra is now a bustling urban locality and has somehow retained its commercial legacy in spite of the fact that its Hindu residents migrated to India in 1947.
During the 1950s, the area between Ichra and Mozang Chungi boasted few buildings on both sides of the road backed up by green fields. The most prominent of these structures were the Omnibus Depot and the ‘Borstal’ Jail. While the jail still stands, the depot vanished with the demise of the omnibuses and double deckers that plied the roads of Lahore.
As one crosses Ichra, a small road leads right from the main dual carriageway. This road once led to a film studio called ‘Screen and Sound’ - the birth place of some early Pakistani films like Pukar (not the Sohrab Modi epic), Nath (Punjabi) and Tauheed. In the late 1950s, the premises fell prey to litigation and then disappeared from the Lahori scene.