Tourism and archaeology budget cut by 52%

Rs450 million announced for Archeology Department which is an increase of 12%.

LAHORE: The Punjab government announced a budget of Rs380 million for the development, beautification and preservation of existing and potential tourist locations. It was a 52% decrease in the budget compared to Rs800 million which was allocated in the last fiscal year 2016-17.

An allocation of Rs169 million was made for seven new schemes, while the remaining Rs211 million would be spent on ongoing schemes.

Moreover, Rs20 million has been set aside for the development of tourist resorts and an entertainment park at Uchali Lake in Soon valley, while another Rs20 million was allocated for the development of tourist resorts at Kalabagh district.

An amount of Rs10 million has been allocated for capacity building of tourist services department, while Rs25 million has been set aside for representation of Punjab in international tourism fairs.

Other new schemes included Rs10 million for the feasibility study of denser tourism and Rs30 million for the construction of a resort at Derawar Fort in Cholistan.



Meanwhile, Rs54 million has been set aside for the upgrade of chairlift and construction of missing facilities, fences and staff residence in Patriata. On the other hand, a budget of Rs450 million (12% increase from last year’s budget) was announced for Archaeology Department with a vision to protect the heritage of Pakistan through archaeological exploration, conservation and preservation of artifacts.

For the fiscal year 2017-18, eleven new schemes with the net budget of approximately Rs240 million were announced.

Development of Rohtas Fort, conservation of Bahadur Khan’s Tomb and Asif Jah’s Tomb will be carried out with budgets of Rs15, Rs12 and Rs40 million respectively. While Rs30 million had been dedicated for revitalisation of Pakistan Institute of Archaeological Training and Research at Old Fort Lahore.

Similarly, Rs10 million would be spent for the development of directorate general of archaeology’s website and important monuments of Punjab.

Other schemes include Rs17 million for restoration of Sheikhupura Fort, Rs42 million for the development of bridge and provision of overhead water tank at Hiran Minar, Rs12 million for the provision of public facilities at Harrappa Museum Sahiwal, Rs39 million for the preservation and restoration of Derawer Fort Bahawalpur and Rs10 million for archaeological excavations and preservation of Mound Dillu Roy at Jampur District, Dera Ghazi Khan.

The budget was announced with the objectives of retention and conservation of cultural values of the built heritage as per international standards. Other objectives include preservation of archeological assets with special attention towards sites located near metro projects, collaboration with educational institutes for research on archaeology and preservation of antiquities.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 5^th, 2017.