LAHORE: The Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA), on the directions of the Prime Minister Imran Khan, would be taking up the conservation and restoration of certain heritage sites and buildings in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Rawalpindi whereas, it would also be conserving heritage sites in Jhelum, Muzaffarabad and Satghara, Pakistan Today has reliably learnt.
The WCLA director general along with the technical team headed by the WCLA Director Conservation and Planning Najam us Saquib visited KP to assess and gauge the tourist potential and conservation of the heritage sites.
The visit was followed by the prime minister’s directives to take concrete steps to preserve the rich heritage of Peshawar through sustainable interventions and promote the city for heritage tourism.
While talking to Pakistan Today, Najam us Saquib said, “We visited the Peshawar City and went to the recently restored heritage street while we also visited the old Saithi Mohallah along with the surrounding houses, Mahabat Khan Masjid, Namak Mandi and Bala Hisar Fort. The purpose was to identify the areas for tourist and create tourist attractions by conserving and preserving the heritage of KPK. We will be compiling a comprehensive report on the visit and along with some proposals we will be submitting it to the Prime Minister’s office and KP government.”
He further mentioned that the team of WCLA had also visited Muzaffarabad, Jhelum, Rawalpindi and Mir Chakar Rind. “We will be making proposals for the conservation of various heritage sites at these places. We will also be planning the restoration of the heritage homes and havelis in the old Mohallahs of Rawalpindi and the proposals would include the uplifting of the buildings, illumination and façade rehabilitation.”
The WCLA Director General Kamran Lashari said that Peshawar is the cradle of civilisations and is the gold mine of heritage. “This city needs to be restored and all important heritage sites should be conserved with the best practices. Our technical team is working on the proposals at a fast pace. I am honored that the prime minister assigned this task to WCLA and the team is working efficiently on the project. We have visited the heritage trail of Peshawar and we will be making proposals for the restoration of the walled city of Peshawar and other sites as well. Peshawar has rich potential for tourism and we should make the best use of its sites”, he added.
“We have also visited the Tomb of Mir Chakar Rind which is located in Satghara and we are on the final stages of its conservation proposal making. Pakistan has rich heritage and I think that to increase tourism all sites should be well maintained so that the tourists get best of the experiences,” Lashari concluded.
