KARACHI: Jehangir Park, rehabilitated and renovated at a cost of Rs200 million, was inaugurated by Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Sunday.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Mr Bhutto-Zardari said it was a historically important park and appreciated the Sindh government and Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah for paying due attention to its rehabilitation and renovation.

“Our region is faced with threats from global warming; keeping this in view, the Sindh government has undertaken many important projects to ward them off,” he said, and made mention of projects like promotion of solar energy, strengthening of embankments of waterways to conserve water etc.

The PPP chairman also highlighted importance of education and awareness of healthy environment to ensure an improvement in the quality of life. He expressed his satisfaction over the provincial government’s measures to provide educational, health and recreational facilities to the masses.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari went round different sections of the park along with CM Shah, Senior Minister Nisar Ahmad Khuhro, Information Minister Nasir Hussain Shah and Local Government Minister Jam Khan Shoro and lauded the quality and standard of the work carried out for the renovation.

MPAs Javed Nagori and Sania Naz, Syed Waqar Mehdi, Rashid Rabbani, DMC South chiraman Malik Fayyaz and other senior party activists attended the ceremony.Earlier the chief minister in his brief speech thanked Mr Bhutto-Zardar for sparing time to inaugurate the park. He held out the assurance that many more projects would be completed soon to restore the city’s lost grandeur as well as status of the ‘city of lights’.

He recalled that the historical Jehangir Park had been ruined after it was turned into a dumping site and parking place due to neglect. He said the rehabilitation and renovation work was completed within six months.

The Jehangir Park land was donated by Khan Bahadur Behramjee Jehangir Rajkotwala in the 1880s. The park was originally named after Behramjee Bagh and inaugurated on the eve of Nauroze in 1883.

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2017