Letting the guard down: Imran promises free-for-all Balahissar Fort

Says FC will get substitute land for HQ; PTI chief to meet COAS to discuss matter

PESHAWAR:

Reiterating a promise he has been making for several years, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan promised to reopen the historic Balahissar Fort for tourists. The magnificent building has been home to the Frontier Corps for over half a century, but Imran has now said the FC would be provided with alternative headquarters.

With its name literally translating into “high or elevated fort”, the iconic structure has an intimidating presence in the city. Sadly, most tourists can only gaze at the stunning architecture from the outside and few get a proper chance to get a peek in.

Clean and green

Imran was addressing participants gathered at Nishtar Hall on Tuesday for the launch of Clean and Green Peshawar. The project is jointly organised by DC Riaz Mehsud and Water and Sanitation Services Peshawar (WSSP). The PTI chief shared Peshawar was one of the most historic cities of Central Asia. He said the drive to revamp and beautify the city will inspire tourists to visit the provincial capital. Imran pointed out one of the fallouts of poor law and order was that much of the city’s beauty had been damaged over the last few years.

Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, Minister for Local Government Inayatullah Khan, Chief Secretary Amjid Ali and other ministers accompanied Imran at the launch.

“Peshawar and Karachi have become very polluted; it is personally upsetting to see the state of the drainage system and garbage on the roads,” said the PTI chairman.

He said 0.2 million children in the country died from diseases related to the consumption of unhygienic water every year.

Commenting on Pakistan being one of the countries most affected by global warming, Imran said the K-P government had planted a record number of trees across the province. He claimed previous governments had planted 600 million trees across the country, while PTI wants to plant one billion trees in the province alone.

Back to Balahissar

“To restore the historic value of Peshawar, the administration is planning on preserving Balahissar Fort, while land would be given to the FC in another area,” reiterated Imran.

He said he would personally meet Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif to get permission to reopen the historic fort for tourists.

Imran also suggested the Auqaf department reclaim encroached lands in the city for parks.

He appreciated the efforts of Mehsud and Amjid, saying they had provided great support for development work.

He congratulated the PTI volunteer task force for its commitment to make Clean and Green Peshawar a success.

Going to the districts

Khattak said they would extend the project to the district and village levels and clean all areas through the efforts of recently-elected local government officials. WSSP would also extend its work to other districts.

The chief minister added roads in cities had been widened and similar work would take place in villages. He said encroachments had been removed in the city which was why commuters had to contend with less traffic.

Inyatullah said encroachments on Ring Road were demolished and Hayatabad flyover would be completed very soon.

He said trees and flowers were planted on roadsides as authorities worked on the drainage system.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2015.