RAWALPINDI: The district administration has started work on the project under which old buildings will be restored to their original shape to preserve history of the area.

Under the first phase, the administration began a survey of the city and rural areas with an aim to identify the buildings that need to be restored and preserved. The project is part of the beautification campaign of the city. A senior district administration official told Dawn that old buildings on Murree Road and main roads of downtown areas would be identified, restored and preserved. A survey has already been launched for the purpose, he added.

The official said there were a number of buildings in the rural and urban areas that need to be preserved but it would require a lot of money. However, for now, the outer structures of buildings on the main roads would be repaired to give them their original shape.

He said some buildings near Liaquat Bagh on Murree Road had already been identified and work on them would commence soon, adding that the findings of the survey would be made public once completed.

The district administration official said there were a number of buildings which were in use of government departments and it would be easy for the district administration to preserve them.

He said the district administration wanted to work on Sujaan Singh Haveli but the National College of Arts informed the administration that it was already working on the building. However, he added that the district administration would check the building.

It may be recalled that the administration had chalked out a plan to turn Sujaan Singh Haveli into a museum in 2014 but it did not materialise due to lack of funds.

As per plan, the district administration was to display historical items, such as documents and cultural objects, in the museum from the Sikh and British period.

The 126-year-old Sujaan Singh Haveli, located in the narrow streets of Bhabra Bazaar, was once the residence of renowned political figure Sardar Sujaan Singh.

When contacted, Deputy Commissioner Omer Jehangir confirmed that work to preserve the old buildings and historical sites in the garrison city had started.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2018