BAHAWALPUR: A sum of about Rs200 million will be utilised for the renovation of historic Derawar Fort in Cholistan and the development of a model village in the desert.
This was stated by Bahawalpur Deputy Commissioner Zahid Parvaiz Warriach while chairing a meeting of the steering committee on projects of Cholistan here on Thursday.
According to the DC, under the proposed plan, beautiful, traditional old style tuff tiles would be installed at the fort building and grassy plots leading towards the old structure.
In the briefing given to the committee members by the officials of the planning division, it was informed that 10 new Cholistani houses to be called ‘Gopas’ in the local Seraiki language would be built to beautify the desert atmosphere for foreigners for overnight stay, if they desired so during their visit in winter season and on the occasions of festivals, including that of the jeep rally event.
Cultural and well-designed entrance gates would be constructed for the model village. In addition, as many as 26 shops of handicrafts, cottage industries along with a working women hall would be constructed there to display the local industrial parts for the attraction of foreigners and also provide the opportunities of livelihood to local women artists and artisans.
The planners have also designed an underground water tank and public toilets for the general public, tourists and visitors.
According to Bahawalpur archaeology department SDO Sajjad Hussain, the administrative staff accompanied by the respective officials paid a visit to the site on Wednesday and selected the area near the fort for the construction of model village, shops and other infrastructure.
On the occasion, the DC also directed to display beautiful signboards from motorway (M-5) to the Derawar Fort for the guidance of foreigners and tourists.
These projects are expected to be completed within a year provided the government continued flow of the funds to the steering committee regularly.
It merits mentioning that the complete renovation and rehabilitation of the Derawar Fort, which is now in the advanced stage of crumbling, need millions of rupees. During previous years, a sum of Rs200 million had been spent by outgoing commissioner Mr.Saqib Zafar on the repair and restoration of fort’s boundary wall, which had collapsed and posed a danger to the entire building. With the repair of its boundary wall, the fort building has been protected from outside to some extent but [still] the building faces the danger of crumbling.
WALK: An awareness walk against child abuse was organised at Farid Gate, Bahawalpur. A large number of people, including rights activists led by additional commissioner Faisal Ata and Ms.Sumera Malik participated.
Published in Dawn, january 6th, 2023
