ISLAMABAD, March 11: A tripartite project on conservation and preservation of the Lahore Fort was formally launched on March 5 by Unesco, Norad and the Pakistan government.

According to an announcement, the project had two aspects, including conservation of Shish Mahal and the development of a master plan for the conservation of the entire fort.

It said experts at national as well as international levels participated in the eight-day meeting at Lahore Fort, whereby a detailed plan was evolved for the execution and implementation of this project.

The conservation of Shish Mahal will be treated as a separate package, to be dovetailed with the overall project at a later stage.

As a result of extensive site inspections, it emerged that each and every structure/architectural element of the fort needed to be documented prior to formulating any conservation or action plan.

Thorough investigation will be carried out and experts from related fields will be appointed by Unesco to undertake the actual project activities. Given the fragility and the precarious condition of Shish Mahal, which has also been attacked by termite along with other structures of the Lahore Fort, urgent priority has been given to the conservation of this unique structure by Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan.

A sustainable management plan will be spent on the maintenance of this world heritage site. Different ministries and departments at the federal as well as provincial levels will be taken on board to address the problems of environmental degradation caused by smoke-emitting vehicles, noise and vibrations around the Lahore Fort.