BAHAWALPUR: The Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab (TDCP) has completed the construction of a tourist resort, costing over Rs20 million, near the historic Derawar Fort, about 70kms from here in Cholistan.

The resort has been completed ahead of the 18th desert jeep rally, an annual event, due to be held in Cholistan in February, 2023. The divisional and district administrations have already geared up all the attached departments and agencies to make the event successful.

According to officials, the tourist resort was planned by Dr Raheel Siddiqui, a former bureaucrat, also the founder of the jeep rally. They say Dr Raheel, as Bahawalpur executive district officer (finance), along with then TDCP’s managing director Irfan Ali, also prepared the blue print of the resort several years ago.

Both officers had taken the initiative of holding the first desert jeep rally during 2003-04, which has now become a regular feature of the area, the officials say. “At that time, it was no less than a challenge to hold such an event in the desert area and nobody expected it to become an annual event that will help promote a soft image of Pakistan worldwide, along with projecting Cholistani culture,” an official says.

The local administration has already begun the preliminary arrangements for holding the 18th jeep rally. In this connection, Divisional Commissioner Raja Jahangir Anwar and Deputy Commissioner Zahid Parvaiz Wariach recently twice visited the venue of the jeep rally near Derawar Fort and issued necessary instructions to the subordinate staff for repairs of the roads leading to the fort from Bahawalpur and provision of other basic amenities for the convenience of the visitors, tourists and participating drivers, expected to gather in the area from across the country.

TDCP resorts in-charge Misbah Ishaq told Dawn that the facility has a total area of five acres. Besides the building, it consists of a waiting room, six bedrooms, three bath blocks with 20 public baths, parking lot and camping area for the visitors and tourists. He said the building department would soon handover the building to the TDCP, which would complete its furnishing to provide all sorts of facilities to the visiting tourists and visitors before the start of the jeep rally.

Besides, Misbah claimed the TDCP was implementing the government’s vision to promote tourism in the area, and also recently renovated its old motel building in the picturesque Lal Sohanra National Park, about 40kms from here, on Hsilpur-Bahawalnagar road, by spending million of rupees. He said that with the addition of second floor, the motel, now renamed as Lal Sohanra Tourist Resort, comprised 10 furnished rooms with attached bathrooms, a multi-purpose restaurant, a swimming pool, besides parking and camping areas.

He said the resort’s front elevation had been improved after repairs, and some air-conditioned rooms added to it. The visitors could now also enjoy Pakistani, Chinese and continental foods at the motel during their stay.

Published in Dawn, November 10th, 2022