LAHORE: The Punjab government on Wednesday approved Rs80 million for construction of a state of the art museum in Multan for promotion of south Punjab’s culture.

The government has allocated an 8-kanal piece of land owned by Auqaf department along the Water Works Road near historical Qila Kohna Qasim Bagh to build the museum, for which the proposal was sent by the archeology department.

The Multan division did not have any museum to preserve and promote the region’s cultural heritage and display antiques belonging to the 5,000-year-old city.

For the project that will cost Rs80 million, the government has initially released Rs20m funds to be used for the construction of the museum’s building.

The government also plans promotion of tourism in the region through the museum, and reduction in poverty by attracting more local as well as foreign tourists.

Multan Commissioner Dr Irshad Ahmad says the administration has received Rs20m to start the construction work of the museum.

“The project will be completed in 2023,” he added.

Mr Ahmad says the importance of Multan has already increased due to the establishment of south Punjab secretariat there and the museum will be an addition to the city to help attract more visitors.

He says the divisional administration will help the archaeology department for promotion of the south Punjab’s culture.Archaeology department Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) Ghulam Muhammad told Dawn that the project was earlier announced in 2008 by the then prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Multan’s Ghanta Ghar (clock tower) building was given to the department for the purpose.

He said in 2010, former deputy commissioner Naseem Sadiq as part of a project to revive and revamp the old clock tower had got demolished its boundary wall, rendering the place vulnerable to theft of the precious museum articles which could not be displayed there.

Muhammad says archaeology department had spent millions of rupees on modifying the building to set a museum there and acquisition of antiques, which were moved to Lahore for safety and storage.

He says the present government has approved the department’s proposal for establishing the museum, allotted land and issued funds for construction of the building. “After completion of the building, the antiques will be brought back from Lahore and displayed there,” he says.

The SDO says Multan has a 5,000 years old history and there are antiques to show to the world to promote the culture of one of the oldest living cities.

He says the people visiting the shrines at the Qasim Fort will also visit the museum and it will help create awareness about the history of the ancient city.

Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2022