PESHAWAR, Aug 4: The Directorate of Archaeology & Museums of NWFP is working on a project to revive and revitalize the glory of Peshawar by conserving and renovating its historic bazaars, monuments and the wall.

"We have proposed a project to provincial government for conservation and restoration of old bazaars, monuments and historic boundary wall in the city with the objective of reviving the old and lost glory of Peshawar," said Prof Dr Ihsan Ali, director of Archaeology & Museums of NWFP.

The provincial government, he said, has reflected the project in the current annual development plan and allocated an amount of Rs1 million for preparing its PC:1. The estimated cost of the project is Rs60 million, he said. "Presently we are working on PC:1 of the project which will be later submitted to concerned authorities for approval," he added.

Under the project, Dr Ihsan said, historic bazaars including Qissa Khawani, coppersmith market, Chowk Yad Gar, Ghanta Ghar up to Gor Gathri would be renovated. The department would work to revive the art and antiquity of old bazaars by conserving and renovating wooden balconies, old buildings, artisan shops, and kehwakhanas.

In Qissa Khawani bazar, prominent for story telling by travellers in the past, the old tradition of story telling would be revived, he informed. Apart from bazaars, work on reconstruction and renovation of historic boundary wall would also be done, he added.

The wall was erected by Sikh rulers for security purpose and it had 16 gates, he told. Dr Ihsan said efforts would also be made to erect destroyed gates, where possible, and refurbish the existing one.

Presently, he said, only two gates existed in the city out of the total 16. Similarly, he said, archaeological sites like Masjid Mohabat Khan, Sethi Houses, Gor Ghatri, Sethi mosque, monuments of Mughal and British era would also be renovated.

The archaeology and museums department would seek assistance from Unesco, big donors and city dwellers for execution of the project. Technical assistance from CDMD and district government would also be sought.

Dr Ihsan expressed the hope that if the project approved would conserve historic buildings of the city and attract foreign tourists. "We want to revive the lost glory of Peshawar which is a recognized historic city of 5th century BC on the available and recorded antiquity," he concluded. -APP