RAWALPINDI: The Rawalpindi Metropolitan Corporation (RMC) has shelved a project worth Rs184 million pertaining to the rehabilitation of the Sujan Singh Haveli and Bhabhra Bazaar Food Street till further orders of the Punjab government.

The project to preserve the history of the garrison city was started in 2021 during the tenure of then-commissioner Mohammad Mehmood. It gradually lost steam during the past two years even though it was still reflected in the fiscal budget of the civic body for the financial year 2022-23.

A senior official of RMC told Dawn that the project was supposed to start by the civic body from its own development budget and in this regard, it already completed the consultations with the Lahore Walled City Authority.

At least Rs104 million had been allocated for the rehabilitation of Sujan Singh Haveli and Rs80 million were allocated for the food street.

RMC official claims project to start in next fiscal year

According to details, the kilometre-long Bhabhra Bazaar Food Street will be restored as per its historical character in addition to the facades of the houses which would be restored as well.

The cables of power, telephone, and other utility companies will be laid underground and sewerage would be released via underground pipes.

The main objective of the project was to turn Rawalpindi into an attraction for tourists through urban regeneration. This project is also supposed to attract tourists on their way to Murree, providing employment opportunities to the local population.

Sujan Singh Haveli

Sujan Singh Haveli is also a historic building in Rawalpindi that has been neglected for long. However, as per the plan, the Rawalpindi Metropolitan Corporation will restore the building as well as renovate seven temples existing in a 1-km radius.

The 130-year-old haveli located in the congested streets was built by a Sikh political figure, Sardar Sujan Singh. The building was owned by a Sikh family that also owned Prince Palace on The Mall which was later converted into the Fatima Jinnah Woman University (FJWU).

The building was in the custody of FJWU which wanted to start a school of culture, heritage, and architecture for women but the plan never materialised.

The four-storey haveli constructed is a fine specimen of brick masonry, facing the street with a front verandah and a central entrance. The building has intricate woodwork on its doors and windows. It has English tiles and Kashmiri wood carving in its 45 massive rooms.

A senior official said that the restoration work of Sujan Singh Haveli was supposed to be started in this fiscal year but due to multiple changes in the government from April 2022 to August 2022, the civic body decided to put off the work till the next fiscal year.

RMC Chief Municipal Officer Amjad Hussain told Dawn that after the formation of the caretaker government, all the development accounts have been frozen and the admin would not start any new work without the permission of the provincial government.

He said that the PC-1 of the project was finalised and the RMC was waiting for a green signal from the provincial government to kick off the renovation work.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2023