‘Tourist district’ project in the offing

Project aims to attract tourists to hilly areas of Rawalpindi district

RAWALPINDI:

City managers are working on a “tourist district” project to attract foreign and domestic tourists to the hilly tesils of Rawalpindi district.

Officials said that under the project a 123-kilometre-long carpeted route connecting the four hilly tehsils—Kallar Syedan, Kahuta, Kotli Sattian and Murree—will be developed to cover lush forests and other attractions along the route.

The tourist destination route will start from Chowk Pandori near Kallar Syedan and will pass through Kahuta, Kotli Sattian, and culminate in the Lower Topa area of Murree Tehsil.

Officials said that deforestation along the route has already been banned to ensure more rainfall and attract more and more tourists.

Besides developing the route, work is being done to lay electricity, gas and water pipeline to these areas so that the tourists are fully facilitated.

According to the officials, the pavement of roads, construction of hospitals, commercial areas, education institutions and a new zone of small industries will also be set up in these areas.

There will also be tourist spots every five kilometres which will also create employment opportunities for the youth of these four tehsils.

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The tourist district will usher in a new era of development and prosperity in these four tehsils of the district.

Murree Tehsil is already a major tourist destination for domestic and foreign tourists. The other three hilly tehsils of the district also hold captivating locations. However, no work has been carried out in these tehsils to tap the tourism potential.

Because of the non-taping of tourism potential, these natural landscape tehsils have lagged in overall development. High-quality health and education facilities are also almost non-existent in these tehsils.

Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) Chairman Tariq Mahmood Murtaza, who is working on the project, said Matt McDonald’s Company and the Lahore Urban Unit have already given him a presentation on the project. He said that paperwork will be completed soon to execute the project of extraordinary importance keeping in view its tourism potential.

The RDA chairman said that the “tourist district” comprising four tehsils will be established for the first time which will result in development and employment in the region.

He said that the project will be carried out under the public-private mode to bear the project expenditure. “In this way, we will provide a new gateway to development, prosperity, and tourism to the future generations,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 1^st, 2021.