Shalamar Gardens: Cafe, parking lot to be completed by June 30

Work on the additions started in July 2012, Rs20m allocated for the project.

LAHORE:

The Archaeology Department has set a June 30 deadline for finishing work on a new cafeteria, parking lot and a booking office at the Shalamar Gardens.

A 12-acre site, situated on the eastern side of Shalamar Gardens and previously used for fun fairs and Sunday Bazaar, was acquired by the department in June 2012 for the purpose. Work had begun in July after Rs20 million was allocated for the project.

Currently, visitors park cars and motorbikes on the Grand Trunk (GT) Road, to the south of the gardens. However, such parking causes frequent traffic jams on the road. Especially in the evenings, the volume of traffic makes it difficult for visitors to find safe parking space.

Afzal Khan, deputy director (Archaeology), told The Express Tribune that the new parking lot could accommodate up to 200 cars and 1,000 motorbikes.

A new restaurant is also being built as the old one, built in 1958 in the garden’s northeast, is seen as too small and “out-of-the-way” for visitors. “A new, nicer eatery is necessary as the gardens have the highest number of visitors after the Lahore Fort,” said Khan.

Shalamar Gardens does not have a souvenir shop either. This is also expected to change.

Khan said the contracts for the restaurant, ticketing centre and parking will be revised. The department has not yet decided if the contracts will be given to those managing the old cafeteria, ticketing and parking spot or whether new people will be hired.

History of repairs at the Shalamar Gardens:

An extensive restoration of the Shalamar Gardens was undertaken between 1971 and 1982. The Shalamar Gardens was added to the list of World Heritage sites in 1981 but was removed from the list in 1999 after hydraulic tanks of the gardens were destroyed during the widening of the GT Road, during Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s first term.

With a UNESCO funding of Rs300 million, the federal department of archaeology in its Master Plan 2006 to 2011 had devised a new plan to repair the gardens. It was extended first to 2013 and later till 2017.

According to officials at the department, the delay occurred on account of suspension of work when federal archaeology department was devolved after the passage of the 18th Amendment. The responsibility for repairing the gardens was then transferred to the Punjab Archaeology Department.

Four of the gardens’ six towers, walkways and a few pavilions are currently being repaired.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2013.