Jeeps will run on a 230-kilometre track. The event will also include cultural programmes such as musical nights.
LAHORE:
The Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab (TDCP) arranged a ceremony on Saturday to celebrate 10 years of the Cholistan Jeep Rally. It also announced that the 10th Cholistan Jeep Rally would take place from February 13 to February 15.
Managing Director Ahmer Malick said more than 90 professional drivers were expected to participate in the rally over a 230-kilometre-long track. The rally, started in 2005, aims to promote tourism in Cholistan, he said.
Malick said 250,000 people had come to see the rally last year. He said he hoped that it would become a mega event in the next 10 years attracting tourists from across the world.
He said the TDCP had organised various events, including a musical evening, fireworks display and camel dance, to showcase the culture of Cholistan during the rally.
Col (r) Kamaluddin Rana from the Houbara Foundation said he believed the rally would help draw attention to various Cholistan issues, included water, education, infrastructure and health.
“Cholistan is a living desert. Great efforts are needed to conserve its flora and fauna,” he said. Chief Minister’s Inspection Team Chairman Imran Ali Goraya said he was part of the team that had initiated the jeep rally in Cholistan. He said he had remained on the team for four years. Goraya said the first rally had been the most difficult to organise; a large number of drivers had gone off course in the desert. He said the purpose of the rally was to showcase the history and culture of Cholistan.
Sports, Youth, Education, Archeology and Tourism Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan said the rally had established its identity. He said the rally had helped develop road network in the area. He discussed various projects that his ministry had started over the past few years. He said a tourist bus service would be started in Lahore and a chairlift and cable car project would be started in Murree in a couple of months. He said the rally was not the achievement of one government but of the people who had been working on it since day one.
Later, souvenirs were presented to those who had fared well at the last few rallies.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 25th, 2015.
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