ABBOTTABAD: Additional Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Shahzad Khan Bangash has said the government has been making efforts to restore tourist attractions in Abbottabad.

He was talking to reporters after reviewing progress on the ongoing schemes under ‘Beautification of Abbottabad’ project here on Wednesday.

He said the provincial government was taking all necessary steps for restoring the lost ecological environment, tourist attractions and beauty of Abbottabad by providing the required infrastructure and facilities.

Mr Bangash called upon the people to keep a vigilant eye on the land grabbers and not allow encroachments on the state land that had been retrieved from occupants.

He was accompanied by deputy commissioner Capt (r) Aurangzeb Haider, officers of the district administration, Tehsil Nazim Abbottabad Ishaq Zakariya and TMA officials.

The ACS visited the project sites in the cantonment and city areas and directed the officers to ensure quality of work.

Mr Bangash, who is also head of the Provincial Development Working Party, a forum for approval of all major uplift projects and schemes of the province, said the government had initiated the beautification project of Abbottabad keeping in view its growing population and civic as well as tourists’ needs.

He added that the concept of progress and development of Abbottabad would be given further advancement if standard of the under-construction roads and other tourists’ facilities was found up to the mark.

He observed that design and standard of Jinnah Bagh and other recreational parks was also of great significance as such high quality tourism facilities were being established for the first time in the district.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2018