RAWALPINDI: The old Presidency and former state guest house on The Mall which now houses Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU) will lose some of its land to make way for greenbelts.

The Punjab government has given the task to Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) to develop greenbelts along Kutchery Chowk after razing the walls of the FJWU, Commissioner Office, Army Mess and Excise and Taxation Office.

This was confirmed by Communication and Works Department Executive Engineer Rao Tahir.

As per plan, more than 10 feet of land of the historical building will be utilised for the greenbelt. As a result, the FJWU’s daycare centre as well as the main lawn will be disturbed.

PHA to carry out work on project set to commence in coming weeks

He said the project of Kutchery Chowk expansion had still not been launched as it was in the approval phase.

When contacted, PHA Director General Ahmed Hassan Ranjha said the Communication and Works Department gave the authority a deposit work for the beautification of Kutchery Chowk.

He said they would develop greenbelts along The Mall, Jhelum Road, Old Airport Road and Rashid Minhas Road and in this regard, they needed to raze the boundary wall of the main building and rebuild it 10 feet back.

“The portion of the Commissioner Office, Army Mess and Excise and Taxation office will also be utilised for this purpose,” he added.

However, Mr Ranjha said work would likely start in the coming weeks when funds were received. He said the basic aim of the greenbelts was to give a beautiful look to the main square of the city area.

It may be mentioned here that the former caretaker government had given approval to expand Kutchery Chowk.

However, the Communication and Works Department had sent PC-I for the signal-free corridor and expansion of Kutchery Chowk worth Rs8.2 billion to the Punjab Planning and Development Department for approval.

In 2023, the provincial government approved the project to construct a flyover and underpass to manage traffic on Kutchery Chowk but in October 2023, it dropped the plan and asked the Communication and Works Department to come up with new plans to expand the road sans the flyover and underpass.

According to the initial plan for expanding Kutchery Chowk to manage traffic on this busy square of the garrison city, 13 kanals and 40 marlas will be acquired from the Fatima

Jinnah Women University building, Commissioner Office, Excise and Taxation Office building, two private houses and military land.

Built to house Prince Edward (later King Edward VII) for his scheduled visit to India, the grand building on The Mall has since served as the Presidency, a state guest house and now, the Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU).

The construction of the building began in 1898 ahead of the visit of Prince Edward, but the trip was postponed following Queen Victoria’s death.

A mixture of Mughal and Anglo-Indian architecture, the building housed former presidents Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry and Ziaul Haq. Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was also detained for a day in the building when it served as the state guest house after she arrived at Liaquat Bagh to lead a long march against the Nawaz Sharif government in 1992.

Prince Charles, former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and many other foreign dignitaries have walked through the corridors of the building, which was built by the wealthy brothers Sohan

Singh and Mohan Singh and named Bachan Niyas or Shahzada Kothi.

In the second tenure of Nawaz Sharif in 1998, the building was turned into the first women university.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2024