Development: Dancing fountains at Iqbal Park cost govt Rs200m

Chinese vendor will train local operators to operate fountains.

LAHORE: Cybernetic (dancing) fountains have been installed at the Greater Iqbal Park with an estimated cost of Rs200 million.

Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) Director General Mian Shakeel Ahmad said on Saturday the park project was in an advanced stage of completion. He said the PHA was working hard to meet the November 9 deadline for completion of the Greater Iqbal Park project.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Mukhtar Nazir, manager of Habib Construction Services (HCS), which is executing the project, said the company had procured the fountains from China. He said that Chinese technicians installed the fountains, which had a one-year warranty. He said the Chinese vendor of the fountains would train local operators to operate the fountains.

Nazir said that software was the main component of the dancing fountains, which could be controlled or troubleshot from China through the VPN access. He said the company had also imported the hardware for the after-sale support.

He said that more equipment could be imported from China if needed. He said that fountains were equipped with colourful laser lights. He said the control software would synchronise the fountains, laser lights and sound to attract the visitors.

The Greater Iqbal Park project was planned in the fiscal year 2013-14 but work on it could not be started due to lack of funds. Later, a June 30, 2016, deadline was set for completion of the project. However, the project was delayed and now it is scheduled to be inaugurated in November.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 18^th, 2016.