BAHAWALPUR: The restoration of former state’s two monuments -- the historic fountain in the heart of city and the Eidgah -- was the main source of attraction for the public during Eid holidays’ nights.

The district administration and the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA), after joint and hectic efforts of several days to beautify the city, managed to restore by Chand Raat the historic fountain in its original form and the Eidgah.

The minarets of the Eidgah were renovated with flashlights giving a fascinating look which attracted the citizens who thronged the site during three nights of Eid.

The basic structure -- the water pipes, its connected nozzles, and the entire mechanism of the historic fountain depicted the defunct state period. Ironically, the identity of the city had been dismantled in 2014 by the former district administration on the pretext of anti-dengue measures.

Its structural frame of water pipes and others was replaced by mud and flower buds. A noted lawyer and retired district and sessions judge, Mian Faizul Hassan, had in his petition filed in the Lahore High Court (Bahawalpur bench) challenging a controversy regarding the declaration of the Fountain Chowk as Khatm-i-Nabuwat Chowk pointed out the dismemberment of the fountain structure.

Taking notice of it, the LHC had on March 19, 2015, directed 11 respondents, including the then Bahawalpur DCO, to restrain from causing any structural change to the monument and remove forthwith the material filled in the pond around the fountain which was since dysfunctional.

According to Faizul Hassan, the fountain with artistic design and attaching the historical and cultural significance was built in 1880 during the reign of the late Nawab Muhammad Sadiq Khan Abbasi V with no parallel even in undivided Punjab.

Since then, the local people remained emotionally attached with the monument as a source of honour, dignity, pride and recognition with the fountain’s small statues (meant to enhance its grandeur).

The plaque-unveiling ceremony, which attracted a large number of people just before midnight, was performed by Minister of State for Education, Interior Affairs and Professional Training Baleeghur Rehman.

District Coordination Officer Dr Ehtasham Anwar Mahar apprised the state minister of the monuments’ significance.

He said the measures taken for the revival of monuments were aimed at preserving the historical heritage and beautifying the city in the larger public interests.

MNAs Begum Perveen Masood Bhatti, Sabiha Nazir, MPAs Fauzia Ayub Qureshi, Hasina Naz and divisional commissioner Saqib Zafar also attended the ceremony.

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2016