18 sites given heritage status

LAHORE: Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA) Monday declared 18 historical buildings heritage properties. The decision was taken in the meeting of Heritage Conservation Board (HCB) of WCLA and attended by HCB Chairman Yusaf Salahuddin, Nayyar Ali Dada, Faqir Saifud-Din and the director Punjab Archaeology Department, WCLA Director General Kamran Lashari, Director Conservation Najamus-Saqib, Director Administration Shahid Nadeem and Director Marketing Asif Zaheer.

The agenda of the meeting was to update the board on the conservation and reuse plan of the Royal Kitchens in Lahore Fort and improvements in Lahore Fort by generating revenue. A list of 18 buildings was also placed before the HCB for approval to declare them heritage properties by WCLA.

The buildings include; all six tangible gates of Walled City of Lahore, Lahore Fort, Badshahi Mosque, Hazuri Bagh, the tomb of Allama Muhammad Iqbal, Shahi Hamam, Haveli Asif Jah (presently Chona Mandi College) and some other buildings.

The proposal of developing a buffer zone around the fort and connecting it with the Mariam Zamani Mosque was also discussed in the meeting whereas the HCB suggested some changes in the proposal and also approved the list of buildings to be declared as heritage properties.