December 9, 2003	Tuesday	Shawwal 14, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Dec 8: The cultural heritage of Pakistan is facing serious dangers due to the absence of coordinated activity to preserve environments and lack of direction towards conservation procedures.

This was highlighted in a report on cultural tourism for Peshawar and Lahore, launched here on Monday. The government of Pakistan, the United Nations Development Programme and Unesco worked together to present strategies for development of cultural tourism of Peshawar and world heritage sites — Shahi Qila and Shalamar Gardens — of Lahore.

Secretary culture Khalid Latif Chaudhry, UNDP and Unesco representatives Onder Yucer and Ingeborg Breines, respectively, were present on the occasion.

Consultants Dr Pamela Rogers and Yasmeen Lari highlighted that so far there had been lack of sustained efforts on part of the government for conservation of cultural heritage.

About the walled city of Peshawar, the report said it was losing historical properties in pursuit of modernity and commercial gains at a constant rate.

Similarly, there was a lack of basic survey and documentation of the city. The owners of the historic buildings have nowhere to go for getting information about how to conserve, who to employ, where to get financial assistance, etc. And without this, the owners would opt for demolition instead of preservation and conservation of some of the rare cultural heritage.

Alike, the federal department of archaeology, the custodians of world heritage sites in Lahore, lacked resources, equipment, proper staff, funding and documentation, the report added.

The loss of a buffer zone, which should surround both monuments and its replacement by roads, heavy traffic, pollution, garbage and encroaching buildings was fast defacing the rare cultural sites of the country.

At present, there is ill-advised planning and poor work as far as the management of the cultural heritage was concerned and the prevailing approach to conservation only resulted in the replacement of old elements with new copies.

The report held responsible the dormant status of the Pakistan Institute of Archeology and Research at the Lahore Fort and the resulting lack of training for conservation professionals for the poor state of affairs of these two monuments.

The report stressed the need for a comprehensive national policy on safeguarding heritage and cultural resources.

Khalid Latif Chaudhry said, so for, the country didn’t have a national policy for preservation of national cultural heritage.

“There has been efforts only at individual levels for conservation of cultural history of the country, hence the need of the hour is a national policy so that we can preserve such sites”, he added.

Mr Yucer said rich cultural heritage of Pakistan was facing multiple threats to its existence and maintenance. These included environmental degradation, soil erosion, urban expansion and general ignorance regarding world heritage sites.