22 May 2004	Saturday	02 Rabi-us-Saani 1425

PESHAWAR, May 21: Directorate of Archaeology and Museums plans to launch a project soon to preserve and restore the Qissakhwani Bazaar for its cultural and historical significance and to boost cultural tourism in the NWFP.

Qissakhwani Bazaar, one of the oldest bazaars of Peshawar, was badly damaged due to social and environmental factors. "If something is not done to preserve the famous bazaars located in the populated Peshawar city the historical bazaars will vanish soon," an archeologist said.

According to a Unesco report, many of the bazaars, including Qissakhwani Bazaar, have enormous tourism potential and their conservation is on high priority. A proposal had been forwarded to the NWFP government to conserve and restore the famous Kissakhwani Bazaar, the bazaar of story-tellers.

The proposal includes the conservation of the historic buildings on the street, conservation of some of the preserved buildings into hotel accommodations for tourists, into traditional tea houses, and into art and craft shops and the conservation of the entire street into a pedestrian zone with kiosks on the streets for eating purposes.

"The feasibility report for this four-year project will be prepared within four months by the consultants who will be hired soon for the purpose," informed an official of the Directorate of Archeology and Museums.

About Rs40 million were allocated for the project which will include preservation and restoration of the Qissakhwani Bazaar. There are very few survivors of the legendary serais and qahwakhanas that were once the hallmark of Peshawar city.

The Qissakhwani Bazaar has been denuded of the fine structures that once lined both sides of the thoroughfares. The large number of serais, which once housed the caravans arriving from Central Asia that brought with them stories from far off lands, due to which the name Storytellers Bazaar originated, are no more traceable.

"The front of the bazaar will be restored according to the design of the oldest kehwakhana still intact in the bazaar and other historic buildings. The tradition of storytelling will also be revived with the financial support from public-private partnership," said official of the Directorate of Archeology and Museums.

The food street with a number of storytellers, telling tales of the historic past like the storytellers of Rome and Philadelphia, would attract tourists to the bazaar.

"Once the project starts the food street of this bazaar will be linked to the food street near Kor Khuthree which is another historic site," the official said. "Arrangements would be made to convince the local shopkeepers through incentives and tax rebate because without the cooperation and confidence of the shopkeepers the project would not work effectively," the official said.