Untapped potential: K-P govt eyeing Khanpur Dam as major tourist attraction

Tourism dept to use 600 acres surrounding the dam for development.

HARIPUR:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa tourism department is eager to develop Khanpur Dam as a major tourist attraction, official sources told The Express Tribune on Tuesday.

Built in the early 1980s, the 42-kilometre-long Khanpur reservoir serves as the main source of municipal and irrigation water supply to its domestic and industrial beneficiaries in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Taxila and different parts of the province and Punjab.

The rain-fed dam also attracts scores of tourists from the surrounding regions. They enjoy bathing, swimming, boating and strolling on the banks. Additionally, many foreign and local tourists also flock to Khanpur for the numerous Buddhist archaeological sites that surround the dam.

Khanpur Dam is also home to the annual water sports regatta organised by the Tourism Corporation of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa each October. The three-day event offers all kinds of entertainment to the estimated 100,000 to 200,000 tourists it attracts. There has been a long-standing demand from these visitors that the authorities develop Khanpur Dam into a resort that offers quality facilities.

According to official sources, the government has already started preparing a proposal. According to the plan, the tourism department has decided to use 600 acres of land surrounding the dam. The project is said to include boating facilities and high-standard hotels, while the dam will be linked to Islamabad via Makhnial Township, the village adjoining Haripur and Islamabad Capital Territory. A source in the tourism department, requesting anonymity, claimed the provincial government has already allocated funds for the construction of the road.

The source added that the tourism adviser, Amjid Afridi, recently visited Khanpur Dam and approved the initial plans. Afridi has also asked officials to speed up work, so that approval for funds can be sought from the provincial cabinet. The adviser is also said to have directed the tourism department to prepare a feasibility plan to develop Bhutri and Kahal dams in Haripur.

Since Khanpur Dam lies at a short drive from Islamabad and is a secure area with a lot of scenic beauty to offer, its development could hold major potential for the progress of tourism in the province and offer low-cost facilities to residents of the twin cities.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 9^th, 2014.