* Rs 600 million to be spent on ‘royal passageway’
* Elahi says area will be made a tourist attraction

LAHORE: Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has said that the project of conservation and development of the Walled City has been started under which all buildings of cultural importance will be rehabilitated. The gardens of the Walled City will be rehabilitated and the street lighting, sewerage and sanitation systems will be improved, he added.

Elahi was talking to reporters after receiving a briefing about the Walled City rehabilitation project at the Delhi Gate. He said that in the first phase of the project, Rs 600 million would be spent on the restoration of the ‘royal passageway’ from the Walled City to the Lahore Fort

The project, costing about Rs 8 billion, will generate thousands of jobs and make the area a tourist attraction.

This scheme includes the removal of electricity wires and poles, improvement of sewerage and the sanitation system, widening of streets and conservation of historic buildings. He said that the pilot project would be completed within two years. He said the gardens of the Walled City would be renovated and decorated and the Circular Garden around the Walled City would be rehabilitated.

He said a survey of the Walled City and research had been completed and a master plan for the Walled city’s restoration had been prepared. He said removal of encroachments from Delhi Gate, Masjid Wazir Khan, Akbari Gate, Bawli Bagh and other historic sites and the restoration of Sufi saints’ shrines were important features of this project. He said the renovation and beautification of historic places and buildings would include woodwork. He said this project included the reconstruction of the Walled City’s bulwark and restoration of its 12 gates. He added that an international company, which had worked to revive the cultural heritage of the Moroccan city of Fez, had extended assistance for this project. He said an autonomous body would be set up to oversee the project.

Elahi said the Walled City was the custodian of Lahore’s history and cultural traditions. He said that in spite of the Walled City’s international significance, the area was neglected by former governments. He said model schools, dispensaries, hospitals and centres for the promotion of traditional sports such as Kabaddi and wrestling would also be established. He said the government had decided to set up information centres in the area for tourists. Elahi said this project will give impetus to new economic activity.

He said besides this project, Rs 300 million would be spent on the repair and renovation of the Shalimar Bagh and Rs 400 million on the Lahore Fort. Elahi walked to Masjid Wazir Khan from the royal passageway.

Defence Minister Major (r) Habibullah Warraich, District Nazim Amir Mehmood, Provincial Ministers Chaudhry Zaheerud Din, Abdul Aleem Khan, Mian Aslam Iqbal, Dr Anjum Amjad, Chief Secretary Salman Siddique, Planning and Development Board chairman Suleman Ghani, Pakistan Muslim League Lahore president Mian Munir, Yousaf Salahuddin, Khawaja Tahir Zia, Ramzan Sheikh, Atiya Inayatullah, Mehnaz Rafi, Data Ganj Baksh Town nazim Tariq Sana Bajwa, Ravi Town nazim Yousaf Ahad Malik and district naib nazim Idrees Hanif attended the meeting in which Humayun Farshori, the project director general, gave a detailed briefing