MULTAN, July 20: Fort Munro, the only hill station in south Punjab, will be developed on the pattern of Murree to attract domestic and foreign tourists.

This was stated by Punjab Minister for Tourism Mian Muhammad Aslam Iqbal while talking to newsmen at the PTDC office here on Sunday. PTDC Managing Director Rais Abbas Zaidi was also present.

He said three new tourism centres were being planned to be set up at 186 kms Multan-Fort Munro route with adequate facilities to lure the tourists at the mountainous valley, some 90kms off Dera Ghazi Khan.

Some 25 years ago, he said, the Anari hill had pomegranate orchards which produced the bigger and delicious pomegranates. Efforts were also being made to put life back on this hill through extensive afforestation.

The minister said the hill station would have a chair lift from Anari hills to the Nazim House.

A plantation drive from Muzaffargarh to Sakhi Sarwar would also begin soon for the beautification of a road leading to the hill station, he said.

Besides he said, the afforestation at the state land and consolidated land at Fort Munro was also on the cards through the drip irrigation technique.

Tourism centres were being planned at three stop-overs — one at Chenab bridge between Multan and Muzaffargarh, the second at Ghazi Ghat bridge between Muzaffargarh and DG Khan and the third at Sakhi Sarwar between DG Khan and Fort Munro. From Fort Munro, he said, began the mountainous area the sight of which tourists could enjoy while riding their vehicles.

With having an elevation of 6,470 feet almost equal to that of the height of Murree, this hill station was just a three-hour-long destination from Multan unlike Murree hills, transportation to which took around nine hours from Multan, he said. “South Punjab tourists will find a visit to this beautiful place cost-effective and travel enjoyable”, he said.

The development of infrastructure aimed at improving the situation regarding provision of basic facilities like water supply, widening of road leading to the valley and plantation were the pre-requisites to bring tourists to the valley, Mr Iqbal said.

He said the main problem of Fort Munro was an adequate water supply with good flow. A water supply scheme completed at a cost of Rs140 million was not maintaining the desired water flow as the people living below the main town started getting water illegally from the main pipeline. “We will try our utmost to rectify the situation”, he said. The minister said that Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi would be requested to allocate special funds for the beautification and development of this hill station.—APP