Hop on board new double-decker bus, take a tour around Old City

Sindh culture dept promises launch of scheme from July this year

KARACHI: It would perhaps be safe to assume that most Karachiites living in the city have little or no knowledge of the Old City area. The culture department has taken it upon itself to address this ignorance and is all set to initiate a double-decker bus service in the city by July this year, which will take adventurists from Mohatta Palace and go around the Old City area.

Culture and tourism secretary Niaz Abbasi informed this at a meeting of the culture department at CM House on Wednesday. With Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah in chair, the meeting was attended by special assistant to CM on culture, Sharmila Farooqui, principal secretary to CM, Alamuddin Bullo, additional chief secretary (development) Mohammad Waseem, finance secretary Sohail Rajput and Abbasi among others.



Abbasi told the meeting that two important schemes are being launched, with one being the double-decker bus service. Under the other scheme, two 50-seat boats are being purchased for visitors. One boat will be kept at Beach Site near Karachi Port Trust (KPT) to show the visitors sea sites of Karachi while the other one will be stationed at Sukkur, near Labe Mehran, from where it will take the visitors and sail them in the River Indus all the way up to Rohri. Both the boats will provide ferry service.

Abbasi also told the chair that his department was establishing six archaeological and cultural monument centres. Two of these centres will be established in Karachi and one each at Makli, Bambhore, Moen Jo Daro and Kot Diji. "At these centres, crystal, wooden, bronze, brass and pottery souvenirs will be put on sale and display," he said.

Encroachments

The chief minister directed the culture department to coordinate with district and divisional administration to remove encroachments around heritage buildings and restore them for the public. "How is encroachment allowed to appear at and around heritage buildings?" he asked. "This is intolerable and must be taken [to task] accordingly."

He referred to the encroachments at Shahjehan Mosque, Thatta, near Masoom Shah's Minar, Sukkur, Chawkandi graveyard, Karachi, Lakhian Jo Daro, Makli, Pacca Qila, Hyderabad and at various other areas. He directed Bullo to coordinate with divisional and district administrations to help the culture department remove encroachments from the heritage sites.



Progress of schemes

Giving a presentation to the CM, Farooqui said that 11 schemes will be completed by the end of June, 2016. These schemes include the preservation of Chitori Graveyard, Mirpurkhas, Khairpur State Museum, Sindhi Cultural Village, Karachi, old Mukhtiarkar Building, Shikarpur and Cultural Complex, Rani Kot, rehabilitation of the wooden roof of Shahi Bazaar Shikarpur, construction of Baqar Lake Resort, conservation of Thatta and Karachi Press Club buildings, construction of visitors' facility at Makli, conversion of zoo garden into Natural Science Museum, Tando Mohammad Khan, and the establishment of Tourist Information Centre at Divisional Headquarters.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 25^th,  2016.