LONDON. The World Bank is to give $10 million towards the conservation and restoration of the infrastructure of the walled city of Lahore, which—despite its historical significance—has been crumbling for decades. The Lahore Fort and the Shalimar Gardens are among the most important examples of Mughal architecture in the subcontinent, and were jointly registered on the Unesco World Heritage list in 1981.

The announcement of the new funding was made by Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, the chief minister of the Punjab, at the end of January. He also announced that, in a separate project, the Punjab government would spend $5 million each on the Lahore Fort and the Shalimar Gardens. This total of $20 million is a significant boost towards preserving the cultural heritage of the decaying walled city.

The World Bank-funded project on the old walled city is to be co-ordinated by a specially created body headed by Salman Ghani, the Punjab government’s planning and development chairman. Isfandyar Khan, a private sector development officer who is heading the World Bank project, told The Art Newspaper that initial funds have come from the Italian Trust Fund for Culture and Sustainable Development, which also helped finance World Bank projects on the Fez Medina in Morocco. Mr Khan said that the work carried out on Fez would provide a model for the Lahore scheme, and on that basis a final budget of $30 million to $40 million was envisaged.

The funds will go towards a range of improvements on the cultural and structural fabric of the walled city, which, along with the fort and mosque, is envisioned as one of Pakistan’s biggest tourist attractions. As well as the architectural restorations, the project will include the widening of roads, the installation of traffic lights, the removal of illegal encroachments, improvements to the water supply and sanitation, control of pollution, and the promotion of traditional skills and handicrafts. Implementation is not expected to be carried out for at least a year.

The walled city covers an area of around 256 hectares and has a population of around 200,000. The area is dotted with mosques, havelis (enclosed palaces with courtyards) and British colonial buildings, many dilapidated. Until now, much of the restoration and demolition work in the old city has been piecemeal, unregulated, and often privately funded.

Three years ago the Norwegian government gave $1.6 million to Unesco to begin restoration work and to create a masterplan that the Punjab government will now follow.

The gardens, situated just outside the city, were laid out in 1641 on the orders of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, the builder of the Taj Mahal. But urban pressures such as their proximity to the congested Great Trunk Road, the 16th-century highway connecting Kabul to Calcutta, as well as inefficient conservation and management, resulted in Unesco placing them on the List of World Heritage in Danger in 2000. Last year the management of the fort and gardens was transferred from the government to the Punjab Archaeology Department. The first priority of the new project is the conservation of a wall of rare Mughal-period fresco paintings and mosaic panels.

Chief minister Elahi said that he was hopeful that the latest proposals would lead to the fort and gardens being withdrawn from the endangered list. But Mr Ito Takashi of the World Heritage Centre told The Art Newspaper that an International Council on Museums and Sites monitoring team had visited the sites last year, and reported that despite an acceptable management plan, little had been implemented. Unesco has suggested that a protected zone should be created around the fort, to include the Badshahi Mosque, the tomb of Ranjit Singh, the Sikh ruler of the Punjab, the Roshnai gate and Hazoori Bagh. This still looks a distant prospect, although local authorities have pledged to move a busy bus stand and other encroachments from outside the fort.

In May last year, the city government issued demolition orders for 1,541 buildings within the walled city, saying that many were in danger of collapse. Conservationists claim that many dated back to the 19th century or earlier and should be restored rather than demolished. The Punjab Archaeology Department is preparing to launch a survey of tangible heritage in the Punjab, which it is hoped will give protected status to more of the old city’s architectural treasures. So far, in the whole province, only 244 monuments have protected status, and more than 1,000 remain unprotected.