KARACHI – Sindh Board of Revenue’s Land Utilisation department has provided 1,000 acres around the Keenjhar Lake in Thatta to the Sindh Tourism Department to promote tourism in the area.
Sindh Chief Minister’s Adviser on Tourism Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh disclosed this during a meeting of the Gorakh Hill Development Authority (GHDA). The meeting was also attended by Sindh Tourism Secretary Shahid Gulzar and GHDA Director General Abdul Qadir Mangi among other officers.
Shaikh said that the land has been provided to the tourism department in Deh Kohistan and Deh Hanjee Meena. The issue of land allocation around Keenjhar Lake had been pending with the Land Utilisation department; however, the land has officially been handed over to the tourism department.
The department has started developing tourism in the province on war footing basis, and the provincial government has invited the private sector for playing their role in this regard. President Asif Ali Zardari had issued directives to allocate funds for construction of a six-kilometre road to Gorakh Hill Station, following which the Frontier Works Organisation started constructing the road.
After visiting Gorakh Hill Station, investors Arif Habib and Aqeel Karim Dhedhi have expressed interest in investing in different projects. Habib has agreed to construct a motel of 30 to 40 rooms at Gorakh Hill Station, and he has already sent a technical team for surveying the site. Shaikh said projects of private-public partnership could now be initiated, and a motel with an investment of Rs 27.436 million would be constructed on 5 acres in Tharparkar district, whereas building a motel at Chotiari Dam in Sanghar district is also on the agenda.
The Sindh Works and Services Department would construct a rest house at Gorakh Hill Station, whereas the Sindh Health Department has been asked to construct a two-room emergency dispensary. A modern shopping mall would be constructed in Sehwan, and lodgings would also be built above the mall. Shaikh asked the tourism department to present a report on Hawkesbay huts because they would also be modified and extended.
All hotels of the provincial government that were handed over to relevant district governments would be repossessed, especially the Sambara Inn Larkana and the Shah Jahan Hotel Thatta, and a summary in this regard has been sent to Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah.
