Road to Niaz Beg village a mess

LAHORE: Niaz Beg Village, the centuries-old landmark with a historical and religious significance, is almost unreachable due to the dilapidated condition of the main road leading to it.

The village located at the gateway to the provincial capital hosts the biggest Muharram majalis and congregations of the provincial metropolis. This year the mourners would find it hard to reach the village because of the messy condition of the road.

The village of Thokar Niaz Beg has been on the map of Punjab well before the partition and it had been the second biggest religious and cultural hub of Hindu community due to the Temple of Badher Kal and the second biggest fair associated to it.

Even after the partition, the Hindu community continued to visit it because of its religio-cultural importance. However, due to the lack of interest by the authorities concerned and misuse of this rich cultural heritage by the locals, the grand Hindu Complex of Badher Kal was reduced to rubles and crumbled structure.

After the partition, the village became a hub of Muharram related activities. Over the years, as most of the Lahore city’s suburban areas became overpopulated and congested, the village and its surrounding area adjacent to Multan Road and commonly known as Tohkar Niaz Beg also got badly affected by the population onslaught, thus becoming a very busy commercial hub.

This new phase of human and commercial progress caused the roads, especially in the rainy seasons, a great damage and took many years for road repairs and renovation. The main road leading to Naiz Beg Village starting from Thokar Niaz Beg is in a dilapidated condition with knee-deep mud-filled ditches and pits in the middle.

The local shopkeepers, residents and the organisers of Muharram-related activities are not only perturbed over the apathy of the provincial and local government’s departments towards the road but they are also concerned over the expected inconvenience to the mourners who would frequent this road in great numbers. As the Holy month of Muharram is just around the corner, the locals and organisers of the Muharram events have appealed to the Punjab governor and chief minister to take immediate notice of the situation.