LAHORE, July 23: The Punjab Archaeology Department will demolish 106 houses built around the Shalamar Gardens after payment of compensation to the affected people. Punjab Archaeology DG Shehbaz Khan made the disclosure while giving details of the steps taken for the conservation of the Shalamar Gardens during the hearing of the Eco Watch Trust complaint in the Punjab Environment Protection Tribunal on Monday.

He said the houses built after encroaching the Shalamar Gardens land had been identified and surveyed for payment of compensation. The directorate would make arrangements for the payment of compensation after the amount was conveyed to it.

He said the archaeology department had decided to shift the terminal stop of smoke-emitting rickshaws away from Shalamar Morr to Sukh Nehr. Arrangements were also being made for shifting of the road running in front of the Shalamar Gardens. The Solid Waste Management of the City District Government had been directed to shift its machinery from the old hydraulic structure of the gardens. The CDGL had already shifted its asphalt plant away from the hydraulic structure and stopped parking its vehicles there.

He said a sum of Rs23.25 million had been transferred to the Water and Sanitation Agency of the Lahore Development Authority for the construction of a drain along the wall of the Shalamar Gardens for the disposal of the rainwater and it had been asked to start the construction of the drain immediately.

He said the archaeology department had also approached the Lahore Electric Supply Company for the shifting of its high tension power supply lines away from the garden boundary wall. A plan had also been chalked out for shifting the GT Road away from the gardens. The City District Government had been approached for shifting of the car parking stand away from the southern wall of the gardens.

The tribunal expressed satisfaction over the steps being taken by the department for the conservation of the gardens and adjourned the hearing to Aug 3.