RAWALPINDI: The fate of the conservation of Sujan Singh Haveli and the improvement of Bhabara Bazaar Food Street project worth Rs152 million hanged in the balance as the Rawalpindi Metropolitan Corporation (RMC) has stopped work on it.

A senior official of the RMC told Dawn that former commissioner Mohammad Mehmood had started the work on the conservation of the historical Sujan Singh Haveli and establishment of a food street in Bhabara Bazaar. But after his transfer over the Rawalpindi Ring Road Project scam, the RMC has slowed down the work.

He said the provincial government also slowed down a project to construct parking plazas in different parts of the city to overcome the shortage of parking spaces in the city.

RMC has been directed to freeze project till further orders, says official

Another official said after the Rawalpindi Ring Road project scam, the provincial government was seeing all projects initiated by the former commissioner with suspicion and has, for the time being, stopped work on them.

He said work on the conservation project was to start by Lahore Walled City Authority (LWCA) and the RMC was to facilitate and arrange funds. He said the LWCA had completed an initial survey of the area.

He said PC-1 had been submitted to the Divisional Development Working Party but now the RMC administration has been asked to freeze the project till further orders.

Under the project, the one kilometer-long Bhabhra Bazaar Food Street would be restored to its 1857 form. The exteriors of the surrounding old houses would also be renovated and restored. All power, telephone and other utility cables would be laid underground.

Sujan Singh Haveli is a historic building in Rawalpindi which has been neglected. The RMC planned not only to restore the building but also to renovate seven temples around it.The 130-year-old Haveli is located in the narrow streets and was constructed by Sikh political figure Sardar Sujan Singh. The building was owned by a Sikh family who also had Prince Palace on The Mall which was later converted into the Fatima Jinnah Woman University (FJWU).

The four-storey Haveli constructed in 1890 is a fine specimen of brick masonry, facing the street with a front verandah and a central entrance. The building was in the custody of FJWU which kept on considering starting a school of culture, heritage, architecture and designs for women in it but the plan never materialised.

The building has a majestic woodwork over its doors and windows. It has English tiles and Kashmiri wood carving in all its 45 massive rooms.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2021