BAHAWALPUR: The Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA) has completed conservation of the Fareed Gate and upgrade of the trail from the gate to Jamia Masjid Al-Sadiq of Bahawalpur at the cost of over Rs442m.

Fareed Gate was previously known as Bikaneri Gate, due to its direction towards Bikaner city in Rajasthan in the undivided India, and it was renamed after Sufi poet Khwaja Ghulam Fareed of Cholistan.

The Punjab government had assigned the task of the Fareed Gate’s conservation to the WCLA last year and the project was completed after over 11 months, opening the gate for the general public as well as traders and shopkeepers running their businesses there.

According to Bahawalpur Commissioner Irfan Ali Kathia, the WCLA has completed the task under the Punjab government’s beautification policy. The historical gate has been conserved under a plan while around the gate, a number of old buildings has been restored to their previous original shape.

For this purpose, balconies with costly wood timber work have been added to a number of old buildings. Besides, underground electrification work has been done with flooring of tuff tiles while fancy lights have been installed in the Shahi Bazaar.

The flooring of Shahi Bazaar up to Jamia Masjid Al-Sadiq with tuff tiles is in progress and is expected to be completed soon.

Dawn learnt that after the Fareed Gate’s conservation was completed, the residents of the area are eagerly waiting for the allocation of funds for preservation of Jamia Masjid Al-Sadiq as it is also a historical monument of the city gifted by Nawab Sadiq Muhammad Khan Abbasi V.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2026