PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Pervez Khattak said here on Thursday that Peshawar city had become ugly after years of terrorism and neglect of previous governments but heritage trail project was an attempt to show the world the cultural heritage and history of the oldest living city in South Asia.

Addressing the groundbreaking ceremony of the project, he said that PTI had promised change and the project was an attempt to change the face of the old part of the city and bring out its historic and cultural significance so that business as well as tourism could flourish there once again.

The chief minister said that work on the heritage trail from historic compound of Gor Khathree to Ghanta Ghar might have caused inconvenience to the local people for a month or two but it was nothing in comparison to its benefits for the future. He said that the provincial capital, especially the old City, was in shambles due to terrorism when PTI came into power but then peace was restored and business, trade and development were going hand in hand.

Says provincial capital was in a shambles when PTI came into power

MPA ShaukatYousafzai; Sports, Tourism, Archaeology, Museums, Culture and Youth Affairs Secretary Mohammad Tariq; Archaeology Director Abdul Samad; district nazim Mohammad Asim; PTI leader Shaukat Ali and others were also present and their speeches turned the ground breaking ceremony into a PTI political rally.

“The heritage trail project will be completed at a cost of Rs301.5 million to renovate and refurbish outer side of 75 buildings and structures out of 150 with a cultural and historical touch along 450 metres distance in this historic city of Peshawar,” said Dr Abdul Samad, who supervised the project and accepted the challenge to complete the project within four months.

The project aims to make access to historical landmarks like Gor Khathree, Peshawar’s old traders’ Sethi Houses, British-era Ghanta Ghar and Chowk Yadgar easier. It would help to showcase the city’s historical past in a more pleasant manner as noisy rickshaws and other vehicles would not be allowed at this pedestrian trail.

The heritage trail starts from Ghanta Ghar and passes through Bazaar-i-Kalan and Sethian Mohallah.

Jehangir Khan, a representative of traders, said that they had been promised that the work would be completed within four months. They expected a beautiful historic look of the bazaar.

“Within four months, we expect to see a beautiful historic bazaar. We expect it would encourage good business and attract tourists and visitors,” he said. He added that at the movement there were difficulties but they expected the project would benefit them once it was completed.

The project was announced some time ago, but the construction work was delayed owing to different stakeholders including Wapda and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2017