LAHORE, Sept 29: A meeting of the City District Government of Lahore high command on Saturday gave the go-ahead for formal launch of ?Dilkash Lahore? Project.
Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif approved the summary which had been forwarded by District Coordination Officer Noorul Amin Mengal to preserve historical buildings on The Mall and at other places.
The first meeting of the project?s Advisory Committee was held by DCO Noorul Amin Mengal (convener) and District Officer (Special Planning) Ms Umme Laila Naqvi (secretary) at Town Hall.
The committee also comprises Municipal Services EDO/Project Director Mahmood Tamanah, Mian Yousuf Salahuddin (civil society activist), Salima Hashmi (Dean, School of Visual Arts), Javed Iqbal (cartoonist), Prof Dr Ajaz Anwar (National College of Arts), Syed Hassan Mahmood Zaidi (Honorary Consul of Malta) and Parks and Horticulture Authority Director-General Muhammad Mahmood.
The participants discussed various aspects of work on historical buildings.
The DCO said the CDGL in the first phase would launch work to rehabilitate four buildings ? Ghulam Rasool, Baba Dinga Singh, Ahmad Mansion and NICL ? on The Mall. ?We have allocated Rs100 million initially under the CDGL?s Annual Development Programme. The CM wants to get this project accomplished as early as possible,? he said.
He said he had recently visited South Korea to attend a world cities? heritage conference organised under the aegis of Unesco, where he urged the participants to include Lahore in the UN-approved list of heritage so that the international UN agencies could be involved in maintaining the Punjab capital?s heritage.
Prof Ajaz Anwar, who presided over the meeting, said the ancient buildings in Lahore and other parts of the province could not be demolished under the Punjab Special Premises Act of 1985, so why the Laxmi Mansion Building was demolished (on Friday last).
?We are surprised to see various ancient and precious clocks missing from buildings. It?s strange no one tried to protect such a treasure that was brought from the UN a long time ago,? he deplored.
He said as most of the buildings were constructed before the World War II, these must be preserved by all means. He also expressed grave concern over removal of green areas in the city, requesting the quarters concerned to maintain natural beauty of the city while implementing development projects.
He said the entire committee members would fully cooperate with each other to launch the project in letter and spirit.
Salima Hashmi requested the DCO to carry out the building preservation task carefully rather than in haste. ?Actually this work takes some time and we need to be very careful in this regard,? she added.
She sought a detailed study about the existing historical buildings on all city roads/localities, requesting the DCO to also include many others in the project for preservation.
Yousuf Salahuddin pointed out some historical buildings in the Walled City areas and sought their preservation. He asked the participants to mobilise the people to own Lahore and initiate efforts for its preservation.
The DCO later issued a notification of the launch of the project, announcing members of the advisory committee.
