LAHORE, March 3: The City District Government of Lahore has formally started placing boards bearing new names of various city underpasses, intersections, interchanges and roads.

The CDGL got the work initiated a couple of days back after the Punjab chief minister approved a summary seeking naming/renaming of 26 city spots, including 11 underpasses on Canal Road and one at Model Town Mor.

Officials say the CDGL along with the Traffic Engineering and Transport Planning Agency (TEPA) has so far installed boards inscribed with new names at Model Town, Garden Town, Ferozepur Road, Jail Road and The Mall underpasses.

“The Model Town, Garden Town, Ferozepur Road, Jail Road and the Mall underpasses have been named after Ashfaq Ahmad, Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, Liaquat Ali Khan, Waris Shah and Faiz Ahmad Faiz, respectively,” a senior official told Dawn.

He said the task to remove the previous boards and place the new ones would be completed within the next 10 days or so.

Another official said although the CM and top Punjab government officials raised no objections to CDGL’s recommendations in this regard, they made changes in naming of some city spots after famous personalities. He said the authorities kept pending the naming of Shadman’s Fawara Chowk after Bhagat Singh till final decision of the Lahore High Court.

“The CDGL had recommended naming of Model Town underpass after Faiz Ahmad Faiz, but the authorities changed it and named it Ashfaq Ahmad Khan underpass. The Mall Road underpass has been named after Faiz Ahmad Faiz. Similarly, the CDGL had recommended naming Niazi Interchange after Ikramullah Niazi, but the officials named it after Bulleh Shah.”

He said the summary approved by the CM had sought naming the underpasses at Doctors’ Hospital, Jinnah Hospital, New Campus, Garden Town, Ferozepur Road, FC College, Jail Road, The Mall, Dharampura, Mughalpura and Harbanspura after Chaudhry Rehmat Ali, Chaakar-i-Azam Rind, Khushhal Khan Khattak, Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, Liaquat Ali Khan, Justice AR Cornelius, Waris Shah, Ashfaq Ahmad Khan, Husain Shaheed Suhrawardy, Habba Khatoon and Joginder Lal Mandal, respectively.

It also sought naming the Niazi, Ravi, Mahmood Booti and Babu Sabu interchanges after Bulleh Shah, Ustad Daman, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Sadequain, respectively.

Similarly, the naming/renaming of the Saggian bridge after Justice AR Kayani, Akbar Chowk (Township) after Jalaluddin Akbar, 7-Up Chowk (Gulberg) after Waheed Murad, Hamdard Chowk after Hakeem Muhammad Said, Cooperative Chowk after Allama Rasheed Turabi, Fort Road after Maulana Abdul Qadir Azad, Istanbul Chowk after Patras Bukhari and Qadhafi Stadium Road (Main Gate to Liberty) after Hafeez Kardar was also approved.

He said the matter related to naming of city spots was discussed in detail by Dilkash Lahore Project Committee, a body entrusted with the task to monitor restoration of British era buildings and rename city spots after those who made great services for the country in particular and the sub-continent in general.

He said though the decision about naming Fawara Chowk (Shadman) after Bhagat Singh was criticised by certain quarters, the committee didn’t back out of its consensus. However, the matter became pending after someone challenged this in the court of law.—Khalid Hasnain.