HARIPUR: If things go as planned, the provincial government-funded beautification campaign will soon deprive Haripur of the remains of the historical Harkishan Garh Fort.

During a visit to the city on Jan 13, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak had announced a number of development projects, including a beautification plan.

The officials told Dawn that the planning and development department had selected the 18th-Century fort’s eastern and northern portions for the construction of a modern family park at the cost of Rs30 million.

They claimed that the idea was floated by the local leaders of the ruling PTI.

TMA executive engineer Mohammad Bashir confirmed the plan saying a total of 19.2 kanals of the fort’s land would be used for the park.

He told Dawn that the project had long been on the list of TMA’s priorities.

“We will complete work on the park in two phases by June this year. During the first phase for which the government has already released Rs10 millions funds, the historic trench surrounding the fort will be filled, while there would follow the construction of a boundary wall and some additional structures on stonewall as well as plantation of grass,” he said.

The official claimed the project wouldn’t harm the fort’s basic structure and instead, it would help preserve its decaying stonewall and northern gate.

He said the project was executed only after the relevant department gave the mandatory permission for it.

Lawyer Amjad Zaman Khan regretted that the local major political families hadn’t taken any interest in conserving the fort.

He also accused the provincial government of violating the KP Antiquities Act, 2016, by allowing the family park’s construction on the historical fort’s premises.

Elder Qazi Mohammad Arif of Sikandarpur, whose family lays a claim to the land occupied by the fort, flayed the family park project saying it would be executed at the cost of a cultural heritage.

He said the city had many parks including private ones and even if the government felt need to create a family park, then it should allot part of its vast land for it instead of harming the fort. He warned that he would move the court for the fort’s conservation.

Dr Shakirullah, head of the Hazara University’s Archaeology Department, also objected to the project and said the fort’s land was a national heritage.

He said changing or defacing the fort’s basic structure went against Section 18 of the KP Antiquities Act, 2016, whose violators could face litigation.

He said the fort was unique as none other such historical structures had trenches on all its all four sides.

He demanded the family park be built in a place other than the fort’s premises.

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2018