BAHAWALPUR: As the 20th international Cholistan desert jeep rally draws nearer, a tent village has been set up, along with the new buildings of tourist resorts, near the historic Derawar Fort, about 70kms from here.

The jeep rally event that also features other sports is attended by thousands of visitors every year from across the country.

The divisional and district administrations, with the help of other government departments and organisations like the Cholistan Development Authority (CDA), Bahawalpur, highways department and the Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab (TDCP), have given final touches to the newly-constructed tourist resorts and the 500km-long rally track.

The TDCP resort has been designed like ‘Gopas’ -- the traditional houses made of reeds and straws by Cholistan dwellers in the vast desert touching the boundaries of three districts of Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar and Rahim Yar Khan.

Commissioner visits the venue, gets briefed

The tent-village and ‘Gopas’, built with bricks and cement, are meant for stay of tourists and participants in the jeep rally and other sports events.

During the event, a large number of personnel of police and other law-enforcement agencies will be deployed in the area for security duties.The security plan for the event has been finalised and will be supervised by Regional Police Officer (RPO) Rai Babar Saeed and DPO Asad Sarfraz Khan.

Within the next two days, the desert, otherwise a calm and secluded area, would be humming with different sorts of activities.

Locals visiting the event find an opportunity to witness glittering vehicles, along with their navigators and drivers, including women participants from Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.

The organisers expect that the rally would attract over a hundred drivers and owners of vehicles from across the country, in addition to thousands of spectators, including tourists.

To inspect the arrangements made for the annual motorsports event, Bahawalpur Commissioner Ms Musarrat Jabeen, accompanied by RPO Rai Babar Saeed, DC Dr Farhan Farooque, CDA Managing Director Syed Tariq Mahmood Bokhari and other officials concerned, paid a visit to the rally venue on Monday.

The commissioner instructed the officials concerned to ensure completion of all arrangements in advance in a flawless way as the event will project a soft image of south Punjab, Bahawalpur and Cholistan.

The commissioner was also given a briefing on the arrangements made for the rally participants at the venue.

The rally’s inaugural function and trophy unveiling ceremony will be held at the DHA Bahawalpur on Tuesday (today) night. The qualifying round will be held on Feb 13.

Meanwhile, according to an official handout, Bahawalpur DC ordered the imposition of Section 144 in the district from Feb 11 to Feb 16 (till the end of the rally), banning the entry of unconcerned people, motorcyclists, and vehicles on the jeep rally track.

Besides, the exhibition of firearms in and around the rally area will also be prohibited, the handout said.

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2025