WCLA gets Rs3.65b to conserve Lahore Fort

The Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA) will carry out conservation and restoration works at Lahore Fort in collaboration with the French development agency AFD at an estimated cost of Rs3.65 billion.

The project is aimed at conserving the internationally acclaimed heritage site and promoting urban tourism at and around the Lahore Fort. The AFD has extended a loan of Rs3.6 billion at the mark-up rate of Euribor+1% (negotiable) with five years gestation period and 15 years payback period, while the remaining Rs50.4 million will be contributed by the Punjab government.

Official documents show that the authority will complete conservation and restoration works at the site in five years (2021-25). The WCLA will conserve all subterranean chambers, eastern and southern entrances, Dewan-e-Aam, southern ceremonial steps, interpretation centre and museum along with tourist facilities and promotion initiatives with an estimated cost of Rs1.45 billion. All these areas were not covered in previous conservation projects, the documents add.

Besides conservation and restoration works, the authority will also reportedly conduct urban rehabilitation in a buffer zone with an estimated cost of Rs1.97 billion. It will cover rehabilitation of Taxali Gate area, Ali Park and south buffer zone, pedestrian and parking facilities, upgrade of a school and mosque and purchase, rehabilitation and reuse of a haveli.

In addition, the documents highlight, a sum of Rs223 million will be spent on capacity building and Project Management Unit (PMU). The amount will cover the design and supervision cost, training and skill development of staff.

A spokesperson for the authority highlighted that it had completed some conservation works on the western side of the fort in 2018-19. Last year, it also initiated conservation and restoration work on the northern side.

Conservation works have been done with local resources at Royal Kitchen, Barood Khana, Musamon Gate, Alamgiri Gate, Temple of Law, Akbar Saray, Diwan-e-Aam, Moti Masjid, Maktib Khana and Shahjehan’s Quadrangle.

Acknowledging efforts of the WCLA for conserving and restoring heritage, the Punjab government has recently decided to extend the scope of the authority to the rest of the province. The government has transformed the WCLA into the Walled City and Heritage Area Authority Punjab with a mission to protect heritage across the province.

The government highlighted that the provincial capital has seen great improvement in its tourism scene in the last two decades.

A recent report of the WCLA shows that in 2019 the authority had completed several conservation, restoration and tourism projects at Lahore Fort and inside the walled city. The projects at Lahore Fort included the conservation of Barood Khana, conservation of western façade of picture wall, inauguration of picture wall and Royal Kitchens conservation and restoration of Deewan-e-Aam.

It highlighted that the authority aimed to undertake conservation of Moti Masjid, Shahi Hammam, conservation of Deewan-e-Aam basement, Doulat Khana Khas-o-Aam, Kharak Singh Haveli, Akbari Gate, Maktib Khana and the northern side of the picture wall.

In addition, the authority aimed to conduct rehabilitation of Sonehri Masjid, Chowk Kotwali Dabbi Bazaar and the project cost would be Rs443.467 million, conservation and restoration of Mariam Zamani Masjid with a cost of Rs120.04 million and urban rehabilitation project of Bhatti Gate to Katri Allahdad with a cost of Rs500 million.

The WCLA is already working on conservation projects in several other cities of Pakistan, which include Zohb Balochistan, Okara, Jhelum, Peshawar, Rawalipindi and Muzaffarabad.

Director General WCLA Kamran Lashari said, “The WCLA has taken up projects in the Lahore Fort and much neglected areas have been given a new life after conservation. Barood Khana and Royal Kitchens are among them. On the tourism side, the WCLA started tours of different gates of Walled City like Taxali and Bhatti and also a landmark project was the launching of religious tourism. Yatra, a tour to Sikh Heritage Sites in Walled City of Lahore was introduced in 2019 and I am glad that the tourist influx in the city has increased.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 20^th, 2020.