* Officials say 40 percent old buildings beyond repair
* Pilot project to conserve Royal Passageway launched
* Public awareness campaign to be part of restoration project

The government, under its Sustainable Development of the Walled City (SDWC) project, has the assigned the Punjab Archaeology Department (PAD) the task to restore 847 old buildings government officials told Daily Times on Friday.

The officials said that the step had been taken after students of the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) recently conducted a survey of 1,427 old buildings. In the survey the students of the Architecture Department identified 847 old buildings that could be restored. They said that out of the 1,427 identified old buildings 570 (about 40 percent) had either been demolished or their structure had been changed by the residents while the rest could be restored.

PAD authorities had hired the UET students to identify and search old buildings in the Walled City in February.

PAD Director General Shahbaz Khan told Daily Times that the detailed report of the restoration project of these 847 buildings would be submitted to the SDWC soon. He added that the report would also mention the funds required for the rehabilitation project. He said though most of the Walled City had been commercialised, the buildings that had decayed were expanded vertically instead of horizontally due to limited available space. He said that such buildings could not be restored because the government could not take that place away from the tenants. He said that if PAD found that any building from those identified could not be restored due to “fragile condition”, they would also not be included in the report.

He said encroachments would also be removed under the SDWC project for long-term economic revival. He said that removing encroachments, taking back the occupied space, restoring the original architecture, making a law to keep the grandeur of the Walled City preserved and making parking lots were some of the key issues that would be dealt with in the project.

Khan said pilot project of the SDWC had been started under which the Royal Passageway, from Delhi Gate to the Lahore Fort (about 1.6-kilometres), was being restored and preserved. A survey for knowing the number of encroachments and other problems under the pilot project has been started.

Khan said the SDWC project was jointly funded by the Punjab government and the World Bank. He said the project aimed at improving urban infrastructure such as electrification, sewerage, streets, pavements and social services in the Walled City. It also aims at reviving the cultural heritage of the Walled City and providing tourist facilities, entertainment and attractions to the area.

According to PAD officials, the SDWC aimed at developing a strategic approach to explore and utilise the locality’s tourist-related economic potential. They said that the project would focus on urban development, cultural conservation and display and to ensure appropriate levels of interventions in heritage sites in a way that the sites’ authenticity would be conserved. They said dangers to the structures would be removed and cultural tourism would be promoted by improving the physical environment of the Walled City and providing facilities for tourists. They said that an awareness campaign would be carried out in the area to involve and train the people in the rehabilitation process by carrying out a participatory project. They said that this participatory project would help ensure that the people maintain ensure the preservation of the old buildings.