Rehabilitation of railway track to Torkham ordered

PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Wednesday ordered the rehabilitation of the railway track from Peshawar to Torkham and accelerated work on the Peshawar Circular Railway Track and along with alternative road from Chamkani to Karkhano.

He was presiding over the 3rd meeting on Task Force of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Tourism at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat, said an official handout.

Senior Minister for Tourism Atif Khan, Ministers for Communication and Works Akbar Ayub Khan, Environment Ishtiaq Urmar and Law Sultan Mohammad Khan, Advisor to Chief Minister for Tribal Districts Ajmal Wazir, Chief Secretary Salim Khan, Additional Chief Secretary Shehzad Bangash, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mohammad Israr Khan and secretaries for other relevant departments attended the meeting.

The chief minister directed to frame tourism-related by-laws for the expeditious boost of tourism in Malakand, Hazara and other scenic spots including the newly merged districts.

He directed to discourage illegal construction in Kumrat valley and other tourism destinations. All constructions should be made under the building codes.

The meeting agreed to the creation of tourism police that should be either a unit or a separate formation involving the youth to work as volunteers replicating the Billion Tree Tsunami model and boy scouts model normally engaged in the facilitation of pilgrims during the Haj season.

The chief minister was informed about the transfer of Kabal Golf Course in Swat, Paitham Guli Bagh, Swat, and Fort Balahisar in Peshawar.

He directed for the transfer of the former two places to Tourism Department and continue negotiations the handover of the Balahisar Fort, Peshawar.

Mahmood Khan directed for the identification of different tourists spots in the newly-merged districts.

He was informed about the rail service to be restarted in different places that included Mardan to Dargai, which was being restarted after a 20 years gap.

Mahmood Khan agreed to the creation of Rescue 1122 and health care facilities in the tourist spots throughout the province. The chief minister directed to study the best international model for the tourism police. The tourism department, police, home, local government departments and other stakeholders should sit together to evolve a mechanism for the tourism authority and policing, he added. The meeting agreed to develop the sites of small dams on tourism lines in order to attract the tourists and make the best use of these spots. However, he directed for early completion of land acquisition after the identification of tourist spots, the area under forest and its preservation and the determination of the agriculture land.