LAHORE, March 14: The Punjab Tourism Department is likely to be merged into a new department being created to primarily develop the multi-billion rupee New Murree.

Official sources told Dawn on Sunday that the name of the proposed department had now been suggested as the department of tourism and new resorts instead of the department of new townships.

They said the idea to merge the tourism department was recently circulated among the departments concerned and all but the forest department had favoured it. The departments which had favoured the idea included housing, local government, law, communication and works.

Sources said the new department would soon be created after amendment in the provincial government's rules of business. Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi is expected to be the minister-in-charge of the department with former chief secretary Hafeez Akhtar Randhawa as its main official.

The New Murree is the second township in the country. The first was the capital Islamabad. Sources said it would be city of the rich and for the rich, and was expected to be completed in seven years at an estimated cost of Rs20 billion.

The city would have seven-star hotels, motels, playgrounds, recreational places, clubs and many other modern facilities for the visitors. "It will match any city in Switzerland.

There will be only 600 residential plots for sale. And you can imagine the extent of wealth to be involved in New Murree by the Rs10 to Rs12.05 million estimated initial cost of a one-kanal plot," they said.

They hoped that all residential plots would be sold as many rich expatriates and locals wanted to build houses in the opulent surroundings. Sources said the scheme to provide water to the new city from the nearby river Jhelum had been prepared and sent to the authorities concerned for approval.