MULTAN, Dec 30: The provincial tourism department has rescheduled the dates of Cholistan Car Desert Rally after the reported objection by the Arab falconers for organizing it in the month of January.

The Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab and the Bahawalpur district government had planned to jointly organize the car rally on Jan 6, 7 and 8 and subsequently the dates of the event were publicized through print media.

Applications from the interested participants had been sought and a contract was reportedly signed with a Lahore-based event management firm when the organizers were told first by the foreign office and then by the provincial government to postpone their programme to hold the rally in January.

Sources said that the Arab royals from Abu Dhabi and Dubai came for hunting houbara bustard every year in Cholistan in the month of January and therefore they had serious apprehensions that the gala would cause their favourite prey bird to fly to some other places from Cholistan.

When contacted, TDCP's regional manager Shuaib Ahmed told Dawn that due to 'certain' reasons the rally would now be held on March 15, 16 and 17. He said the new schedule of the rally would soon be publicized in the media and a fresh deadline for the submission of entry farms would be announced simultaneously.