1. INTRODUCTION1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 PROJECT BACKGROUND

In 1991, the government of NWFP created Sarhad Tourism Corporation

(STC) as a public limited company to promote tourism in the province.

This was done in recognition of the enormous potential for economic

development through environmental tourism based on the diverse

landscape, rich culture and pristine ecological resources of the

province. Basically, whatever tourism development had taken place in

Pakistan, was mostly through ad-hoc planning of the Tourism

Corporations financed by the Government of Pakistan. No planned or

integrated efforts were made to systematically and gradually develop

the tourism industry in Pakistan. Neither the environment impact nor

need or demand assessments were carried out before embarking upon

development activities in this sector.

Unfortunately, this unplanned, disorganized and ad-hoc approach

resulted in wasting a lot of natural and financial resources. It has also

destroyed the ecology and environment of the potential areas. The

mushroom like development of infrastructure both by the private and

public sectors without keeping the future in view marred the beauty of

the areas with tourism potential. The resources were concentrated in a

few areas, resulting in over-crowding certain places and totally

ignoring other areas, which were left behind under-developed. The

standard of tourists facilities and man made attractions were far below

the national and international standards, which is limiting tourists

traffic.

Inadequate security measures in these areas further sailed the

environment, No concerted and integrated efforts seem to exist to

1

publicize, promote and expose Pakistan's tourism potential to the

outside world and that is why Pakistan is called "Asia's best kept

secret". Due to the total dependence and heavy burden on the

government's financial resources, the Tourism Corporations of Punjab

and Sind have become parasites and a liability for their governments.

Learning from the experiences of the other Tourism Corporations in

Pakistan and the other sister organizations of Siri Lanka and Maldives

etc. the Sarhad Tourism Corporation (STC) was established by the

government of N.W.F.P with a clear mandate to play its role as a

catalyst and help promote the tourism industry through the private

sector. It is the government of NWFP's strategy to help the STC to

stand on its own feet and become a self sustaining organization. STC

was supposed to receive a one time grant from the government to

begin its activities but would essentially be self-financing.

It was decided by the G.0. NWFP that STC should have a Regional

Master Plan to have a planned and systematic approach towards

developing the tourism industry of Malakand. In that, it was decided

that STC would hire a team of consultants to prepare a 5-10 years

Regional Master Plan for the development of Tourism in Malakand. The

Joint Venture of M/S Gulf Consulting Associates, 34-Abdara Road

University Town, Peshawar and M/S Universal Development

Associates, 3-Asif Plaza Defence Chowk, Lahore Cantt. were awarded

this consultancy assignment in April 1996, and this Report has been

prepared as a final product in this regard.

1.2 LOCATION

Malakand division marks the northern most boundary of Pakistan

2

(Fig.1). It is strategically located in close proximity to Afghanistan,

China and Central Asian States of Tajikistan. Hazara Region makes its

boundary on the eastern sides, whereas the districts of Mardan and

Charsadda are located in the south. Some area of Bajaur Agency and

the international boundary with Afghanistan makes its boundary on

the western side. Malakand division is situated between 34-17' to

36-52' N and 71-15' to 70 E on the world map.

3

Fig.1

1.3 TOPOGRAPHY

Malakand division is an all mountainous area, surrounded on the north

by Hindukush and Karakuram Ranges where high snow covered peaks

of world fame are located. The area

starts gaining the altitude from Malakand Agency which starts from

the foot hills of the Malakand Range. The Swat valley stretches from

here on and reaches at high altitudes at Kalam and further towards

north. Dir is relatively higher than Swat and subsequently Chitral is

the highest valley bounded by the highest altitudes in the whole

division. All three valleys are separated by mountain ranges running

almost parallel in north-south orientation.

The relative average altitudes of the district headquarters above sea

level are as follows:

i. Dir - 1382 Meters

ii. Swat - 1067 Meters

iii. Chitral - 1475 Meters

iv. Malakand - 689 Meters

1.4 CLIMATE

Except Malakand Agency which is located at comparatively lower

altitude, the climate of whole division is temperate during summer

and colder in winter as compared to the rest of the province.

Rainfall is spread over the months of January, February, March and

April during the winter season and over the month of July and August

during the summer. Most of the downpour occurs during January and

March as a result of easterly winds from the Mediterranean sea.

Rainfall various around 100 mm to 150 mm while the temperature

varies between 7 and 30 C. Most part of the division witnesses snow

fall every year, mild at low altitude and heavy at high altitudes. Most

peaks especially on the northern side remain snow clad all the year

round, where glaciers are commonly found.

1.5 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The history of Malakand Agency is intricately woven with history of

Swat, Dir and Chitral. Early in the sixteenth century the Yousafzai

Pathans effected their entrance into Swat by the Malakand and in the

1587 Zain Khan, a general of the emperor Akbar, built a fort here. In

1845 the Pass was taken by the Chitral Relief Force and has since

been occupied as a military post near which is also located the head

quarters of the Political Agency. On July 26, 1897, the post was

suddenly attacked by a large gathering of Swat under a fanatical

leader, the Mulla Mastan. Tribesmen from Utman Khel and Upper Swat

attacked which were later repulsed and the area was relieved on

August 2, 1897. It remained under British control till 1947 when it

became a part of Pakistan. However, its tribal status was recognized

and to date it is a tribal area under the provincial control as (FATA)-

Provincially Administered Tribal Area.

The district presently now and previously before, is partitioned

between two parts by Malakand hill. The northern part is called Swat

Ranizai and the southern part is called Sam Ranizai. Primarily the

population of the area was and still is dependent upon agriculture with

two distinct classes of agriculturists; the owners and tenants, with

periodic uprising from time to time against each other. Without a

mention of Malakand Operation, the history of Malakand is incomplete.

Back in 1895, the British Govt. adopted a forward policy to extend its

occupation to Malakand and beyond, and lured some local influential

to side with them, of course with immediate and long term benefits.

They marched onwards despite resistance from the locals, but were

fully engaged at Malakand Pass. A fierce battle between the British

force and the local Mujahideen took place. The British finally

succeeded in overcoming the resistance. The hill top and surrounding

area was occupied by the British forces. Sir Winston Churchill, who

later became the British Prime Minister was a lieutenant at that time,

travelled in a tonga from Nowshera to Malakand and took part in the

operation. One picket near Chakdara on the adjoining hill top, was

named after him as "Churchill Picket". A few decades back in early

sixties, Queen Elizabeth, on her way to Swat on the invitation of

President Ayub visited this spot and conveyed her message to

Churchill, who was alive then.

The first historical mention of Swat is made by Arians, who record that

in 326 B.C. Alexander the Great led his army through Kunar, Bajaur,

Swat and Buner; but his successor, Seleucus, twenty years later

handed over territories to Chandragupta. The inhabitants were in

those days of Indian origin. Buddhism being the prevailing religion,

they remained thus almost undisturbed under their own kings until the

fifteenth century. They were the ancestors of the non-Pathan tribes.

The invasions of the Yousafzai and other Pathan tribes, aided by the

Utman Khel, then began; and by the sixteenth century, the Yousufzai

were in possession of Buner and Lower Swat. The advent of these

Pathan invaders introduced Islam throughout Swat.

At this time the Emperor Babar, by a diplomatic marriage with the

daughter of Malik Shah Mansoor, the head of the Yousafzai clan, and

by force of arms, established his sovereignty throughout these areas.

However, Upper Swat was still held by the aboriginal Swatis under

Sultan Uais or Wais, who also tendered a voluntary submission,.

claiming protection from the invaders which Babar gave. In

Humayun's reign, however, the advance was continued, and the

Yousafzai overran Upper Swat. Humayun's yoke was rejected by them

and even Akbar in 1584 could exert no more than a nominal

submission. By 1658, however, in which year Aurangzeb ascended to

the throne, the tribes refused to pay revenue, declared their

independence, and maintained it till the time of Nadir Shah, whose

successors, Ahmad Shah Durrani and Timur Shah, kept their hold on

the area. The grasp was not lost by those who came after, and when

Azim Khan attacked Sikhs in 1823, the Yousafzai sent a large

contingent with their army. They were defeated and Ranjit Singh

entered Peshawar, but did not move toward north. Syed Ahmad Shah

Brailvi stood against the Sikhs but was martyred near Balakot in 1831.

On the establishment of British rule in the Peshawar valley in 1849, no

attempt was made to penetrate into these hills.

The primacy then passed to Abdul Ghafoor, the famous Akhun, who

established himself in 1835 at Saidu in Upper Swat, where he lived

until his death in 1877. He was the most powerful man of his time. His

shrine is located at Saidu which is now called Saidu Sharif. His son

Abdul Wadud and grandson Miangul Jehanzeb were later called

Bacha Saheb and Wali of Swat respectively. The state was merged

into Pakistan in 1968.

Dir takes its name from the village Dir, situated at the extreme north

which was the capital of the ruler, called Nawab, till 1960. Dir is

situated on the bank of Dir tributary of Panjkora river. Presently the

district has been bifurcated into Lower Dir and Upper Dir Districts with

headquarter of Lower Dir is located at Timargara which occupies a

central position in the district and Dir Town as the headquarter of

Upper Dir, administratively. The problems of sovereignty over Dir has

witnessed many a campaign between local Khan and Chieftains,

prominent amongst them being the Khan of Jundool, Umara Khan,

Mohammad Sharif Khan, Miangul of Swat (the son of Abdul Ghafoor

Akhun). Chakdara, its extreme south village has seen many events

from the days of Alexander the Great, Babar, the Mughal King and his

descendants and finally the British in 1895 and 1897. It is to recall that

the local Mujahideen voluntarily fought the British forces in 1895 when

they tried to find their way to Chitral via Malakand-Chakdara. The

"Ghazis" were defeated and a fort at Chakdara and a picket by the

mane of Churchill Picket on the two hills were constructed.

Dir as mentioned earlier was ruled by the Nawab, and his successors

for over eighty years till 1960 when the control was taken over by the

Pakistan Government after a brief and bloodless plan. Dir has the

unique historical background of the visit by three prominent and

powerful personalities. First of them was Alexander the Great who

entered Dir from Bajaur side. At Talash in Dir he was stopped by the

forces of a local monarch who happened to be a woman. A brief

skirmish ensued and Alexandra sustained an injury on his leg by an

arrow. Later on, a compromise was struck which resulted in the

marriage of Alexander with the woman monarch. Secondly, Mahmood

Ghaznavi also conquered the area by defeating the east while Hindu

Shahi near Chakdara. The huge graveyard near Batkhela (Malakand

Agency) is the resting place of many a Ghaznavi martyrs. In and

around Chakdara are also found many coins of Mahmood of Ghaznavi,

bearing evident to the Ghaznavi rule in the area. Thirdly, the Mughal

King Babar also crossed over to Dir via Bajaur and then to Swat

through an intervening hill between Dir and Swat near village Ouch.

The exact site where he crossed over the hill is called as Babar's

Ghakhai (Ghakhai means a cut).

Lately, Umara Khan, a local Khan of Jandool (Dir) who rose high,

fought with the British at Chitral. Because of his limited resources he

could not stand the forces of the British and crossed over to

Afghanistan. For his strategic moves and tactics in the war against

British and local encounters he was sometimes called Napoleon of

France. He was suffering from extreme lack of resources. All he

depended upon and till very late thereafter, was the locally

manufactured arms from a native area in Barawal, near Dir.

The people of Chitral are predominantly emigrants from Afghanistan

which is their close neighbor. Part of the population are those who

came with Alexander the Great and settled here when he left the area.

These remnants of those days have maintained their culture and

identity till this day. The valleys where they live are known by the

name of Kafiristan, the name which is now the main attraction for the

tourists. Not only their beauty and attire but also their customs are

attractive. By passage of time their number has decreased

considerably as they are converting to Islam. There is a strong feeling

for trying to maintain their identity and to have the least interference

in their affairs. The name Kafiristan, as it was introduced in last forties

has attracted tourists not only from far and wide within the country

but also from all around the world.

Till late fifties the district, previously known as a princely state of

Chitral was ruled by "Mehtars". These Mehtars were emigrants from

Afghanistan. The word `Mehtar' means superior, and the way they

ruled and behaved was superior too. One of the main reasons of the

backwardness and poverty of the area, besides difficult accessibility

was the tight grip over the residents by these superior rulers.

1.6 AREA AND POPULATION

Malakand division is the largest in Pakistan in terms of area., The

population of the division was 2.467 million in 1981, which has been

estimated to be 3.725 million in 1991, at the growth rate of 3 % per

annum. The 1996 population on the same growth rate has been

estimated to be about 4.52 million. Table: 1 shows the population and

area by districts of the division.

TABLE: 1 Population and Area by Districts

S.NO.

NAME OF DISTT

AREA IN SQ.KM

POPULATION IN 1981

POPULATION IN 1991

(ESTIMATED)

POPULATION IN 1994 (ESTIMATE

D)

POPULATION IN 1996

(ESTIMATED)

1. DIR 5,282 7,67,409 12,10,000 1412000 -

2. SWAT

(with Shangla)

6,945 9,67,484 14,35,000 1641000 -

3. BUNER 1,843 2,65,517 4,05,000 467000 -

4. CHITRAL 14,850 2,08,560 2,91,000 325000 -

5. MALAKAND 952 2,57,797 3,84,000 415000 -

TOTAL 42,60,000 45,20,000

1.7. ADMINISTRATIVE SET UP

Malakand division has been divided into the following administrative

units, which are also shown in Fig-2:

1. Malakand Agency

2. District Buner

3. District Swat

4. District Shangla

5. District Lower Dir

6. District Upper Dir

7. District Chitral

Districts of Buner and Shangla had been historically a part of district

Swat and are relatively recently established administrative units.

However, the Malakand Division can be divided into distinct entities in

a different fashion based on its physical, geographical and

topographical features as follows:

1. Malakand Agency

2. Swat

3. Dir

4. Chitral

Fig. 2

2. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES2. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

2.1 GOALS

The goals of the Regional Master Plan are:-

a. Promote and develop the tourism industry of Malakand Division

by involving both the private and public sectors.

b. Fully protect and preserve the culture, traditions, history,

heritage, environment and wild life of the target areas.

c. Develop the socio-economic conditions of the people and areas

having tourism potential.

d. Gradually and systematically identify and develop all the

existing potential areas for attracting tourists both from in and

outside the country.

e. Introduce, promote, develop and publicize the tourism potential

of Malakand Division in and outside the country and

f. Make the STC a self financing agency.

2.2 OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the Regional Master Plan are to:-

i. Systematically and through short, medium and long term

strategy/plan/approach, gradually develop the potential areas of

Malakand Division for generating income

by attracting the foreign as well as the local tourists to the

potential areas.

ii. Set the future direction of the Sarhad Tourism

Corporation/Government of NWFP/Ministry of Tourism for the

promotion and development of tourism in Malakand Division.

iii. Involve private enterprises in setting up profitable and

innovative recreational tourist facilities/attractions in Malakand

Division either individually or jointly with the government of

N.W.F.P.

iv. Explore and identify various ways and means for generating

revenue for making the STC a self-financing organization.

v. Provide the basic infrastructure and recreational activities

required for the development of potential tourism areas to

facilitate tourist travel, lodging, food and recreation etc. in

collaboration with the private sector.

vi. Develop the human resources of various institutions, both

private and public, directly linked with the tourism industry, for

providing services to the tourists.

vii. Address the problems of unemployment, migration from rural to

urban areas, income generation for the poor masses, and raising

the standard of living of the potential areas.

viii Identify the weaknesses in STC and their resolution to

strengthen the STC to fully implement the regional master plan

and play its role as a catalyst.

ix. Identify various areas having tourism potential and work out the

appropriateness and feasibility of various activities for

developing attractions in these areas.

x. Promote and market the Malakand tourism industry in and

outside the country.

xi. Regulate, control and protect the environment of the crowded

areas already thronged by the tourists/visitors and prevent the

recurrence of this mishap in the potential tourist areas.

xii. Privatize the tourism industry and install a sense of ownership of

the tourism industry in the private investors.

xiii Establish a network amongst the private sector, Federal

Government, Provincial Government and other sister tourism

institutions both in and outside the country for the improvement

and promotion of the tourism in Malakand Region.

3. AN OVERVIEW OF EXISTING CONDITIONS3. AN OVERVIEW OF EXISTING CONDITIONS

3.1 EXISTING TOURISM ACTIVITY

3.1.1Tourism Potential

Pakistan enjoys a unique position due to its strategic location on the

world map and its topographical and geographical features, especially

the areas in the north. The area is known by virtue of its lofty

mountains covered with snow, ever green pine, oaks and shrubs.

Karakuram (K-2) the second highest peak in the world has graced this

land by its location in the northern most part of the country.

Picturesque mountain slopes with snow melt rivers flowing in the

gorges present fascinating scenes which are attractive to locals and

foreigner alike. Nature has gifted this country with vast scope of

developing the beautiful hills and panoramic views.

Malakand division constitutes a significant part of the beautiful

country located north of Pakistan. It consists of the valleys of Swat, Dir

and Chitral, all unique in the potential scenic beauty as attraction for

tourists. To the outside world these valleys truly represent Pakistan for

tourism activity. Besides the natural beauty, these areas have rich

historical background. If backwardness is taken as blessing in disguise,

few of the locations here have seen little impact of modern life,

therefore they are culturally preserved in original form.

The flow of visitors started towards Malakand division in early fifties

when the first book on Kafiristan was published. The attractive

narration of the different customs of the local inhabitants, together

with beautiful description of the valleys opened a new era for this

otherwise forgotten land. Whosoever went to the valleys of Kafiristan

in Chitral was enchanted by the rhythmic music of turbulent streams,

chirping birds on the trees and beautiful Kalash women.

3.1.2Tourism Seasons

Most areas in Malakand Division are located at high altitudes which

witness extremely cold winters. Besides, due to the land sliding and

excessive snow fall, the access to these areas especially Chitral

becomes extremely difficult and sometimes impossible. Therefore, the

most suitable period for tourists to visit these areas is during summer.

This is the time when other parts of the country witness scorching

heat and people flock to the hilly areas. Although the tourists visit

these areas around the year even during winter but they are very few

in number and their visits are limited to relatively low-lying areas. The

main-stream of the tourists starts coming sometimes during May and

continue till October. Therefore normally the tourists season is

considered to be from mid May to mid October, every year.

3.1.3Composition of Tourists

In the early days of Pakistan a tourist was necessarily taken as a

foreigner, as both words (tourist and foreigner) were synonymous to

each other. As the time passed and socio-economic conditions in

Pakistan improved, a significant number of local population started

taking part in tourism activity. With exposure to the outside world,

increased number of educated families with increase in affordability

and the revolution brought by the mass media, people of Pakistan

realized need for recreation to enjoy vacationing. Gradually a class of

local and domestic tourists developed which has now increased to a

significant size.

The tourists now are divided into three categories:

(a) Local tourists.

(b) Domestic tourists.

(c) Foreign tourists.

Local tourists belong to the same area and make short time visits

mostly on daily basis. They are generally week-end holiday makers.

Domestic tourists are presently perhaps the largest proportion of

tourists. These are the people who visit the tourists places during the

annual vacation (summer and winter) periods and belong to Peshawar,

Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and the remaining parts of the country.

Foreign tourists mainly come from Europe, America, Australia and

Japan. The only country in Asia which has significant share in Pakistan

Tourism is Japan. Foreign tourists are a significant proportion of the

total tourists in Pakistan. According to the Additional Secretary,

Tourism, Mr. Hassan Raza Pasha, Since 1983, tourists arrival in

Pakistan ranged between 3,65,000 and 4,54,000. He noted that the

tourists arrival in Pakistan as much lower than in most other countries

in the region. According to a recent World Travel and Tourism Council

Survey in 1995, there are 212 million tourism related jobs in the world

which are contributing $ 3.4 trillion or 10.9 % of the global GDP.

According to a forecast, till the year 2010 East Asia and Pacific regions

will grow by 7% on the average in the tourists arrival which is almost

double the world average.

3.1.4Tourism Related Services

There are two significant aspects regarding the services to be

provided to tourists at any place. One is comfort and the other is

adventure. Tourists prefer to make their period of stay as comfortable

as possible. However, there are certain instances when any difficulty

during the journey or stay needs little hardship which is taken as

adventure. But under normal circumstances, there are basic human

needs which certainly require to be provided. Following is an overview

of the basic services which are presently existing for the tourists.

a. Transportation

The country has at present a vast and extensive network of air, rail

and road linkages. However, appropriate modes of suitable transport

within the division exist in the private sector alone as no specific

arrangements for tourists is made by the public sector. Private busses,

wagons and small vehicles ply everywhere in the division, which are

mostly not very comfortable seating capacity wise nor to the level of

service. To approach the attractive but difficult terrains in the far

flung areas jeeps are available to hire, but the system lacks an

organized network. The rates of these jeeps are determined at will by

the operators and are quite exorbitant during the peak tourists

season. There is no uniformity in rates nor there is any organized

check system on the fares.

b. Hotels

Hotel business is mainly owned by the private sector, except at

locations where PTDC owns motels, one at Kalam and the other at

Chitral. There is only one four star hotel located at Mingora; all others

are either two star or one star hotels. It is extremely difficult to assess

the total number of hotels in the division or their total bed capacity,

the reason being that none of them has been registered with the

Ministry of Tourism which exercises control on them. However, the

major concentration of hotels are in Mingora, Madyan, Bahrain and

Kalam in Swat. A number of hotels are also located in Dir and Chitral,

in the private sector.

The performance of these hotels has been poor both in terms of

standards and level of service. Due to the lack of any control on this

business, they operate under the free market system. Room rents are

fixed by the management which changes according to the demand. It

was revealed during an interview with some of the tourists in Madyan

and Kalam that the rent for a single room of Rs. 300.00 per night

during the off-season rises upto Rs. 3,000.00 per night during the peak

season.

c. Restaurants

Similar to the case of hotels, the restaurants also have shown a poor

performance. Firstly, there is a shortage of standard restaurants

throughout the division. Secondly, the level of service is poor as most

of them do not follow the basic principles of health and hygiene.

Thirdly, due to the lack of any control measures, the meals service

charges are quite exorbitant, especially during the peak tourists

season.

d. Basic Urban Facilities

Basic urban facilities including shopping areas, post and telegraph

offices, telephone offices, banks etc. are sporadically located in the

division. While the shopping areas and postal services are adequately

available, telecommunication network has been recently improved but

not to the level of satisfaction. Those provided by the hotels are often

too expensive due to the additional service charges and sales tax.

Public telephone facility is limited to a few locations only and that also

is limited to the office working hours. Night shift at any telephone

exchange is not operative.

e. Safety

Safety to the visitors is the first and foremost requirement for any

tourism industry to develop and flourish. While the law and order

situation in the valleys has been always under control, there had been

some incidents of theft, looting, decoities, kidnapping and even killing

in the fast past. An extensive network of police surveillance has now

been established even to the remote areas, as a result such incidents

are very rarely happening now. The most recent incident reported in

the press was the looting of four wagons at Lowari Top during the

broad day light on June 22, 1996. In general, the police remains on

high alert during the tourist season and safety of the visitors is

adequately guaranteed.

f. Tourists Information Centers

There are not many tourists information centers in the division. Only

PTDC provides this facility at few locations only, which is extremely

deficient in terms of the level of service. Their number is very small

and they provide little information, and are not operating around the

clock whereas the tourists have no specific time to arrive at a certain

place. These centers are open only during the working hours on the

working days. Tourists have been observed to be stuck up during the

weekly holidays and late in the evenings, due to the lack of

information regarding the road conditions to proceed further in their

journey.

g. Tour Operators and Guides

An extensive network of tour operators working as travel agents exists

in the area to provide an adequate level of service to the tourists

during all seasons. Besides, tour guides area also available on specific

locations to be hired for specific journeys. However, due to the lack of

an organized institutional arrangement for control of their activities,

their performance has not been excellent.

3.1.5An Overview of Tourism in Pakistan

In spite of the presence of all that, a tourist looks forward to enjoying

lofty mountains, verdant valleys, unrivalled sprawling sky line,

archaeological sites, inviting mountain slopes, rich cultural diversity,

exquisite curiosities and above all, a highly hospitable people.

Pakistan has not made significant progress in tourism industry. This is

a discouraging situation when compared with countries with much less

to offer to tourists while reaping a rich harvest of travellers and

tourists by way of collecting millions in foreign exchange.

Pakistan still remains absent from the world tourist map because

tourism has been treated by the successive governments casually and

not as an industry with great potential as a foreign exchange earner.

Tourism is already the world's fastest growing industry after oil. Its

annual turn - over is about $ 3.0 trillion. It is expected to surpass

every other industry by the end of the first quarter of the 21st

century, if a systematic progressive policy is adopted to development

in the coming few years from now.

Over two and half decades back Pakistan seemed destined to become

the hottest tourists spot in South and South East Asia. That was in the

early 1970's. A french firm had been commissioned to carry out a

study to suggest short and long-term plans for the promotion of

Tourism. The firm, Sena Metra, in its voluminous report prepared a 20

year perspective plan which included development of new tourists

sites, upgrading of existing infrastructure facilities, promotion and

publicity on incremental basis to market the tourist products thus

developed. This plan was never taken seriously and since then has

been shelved.

The sector in spite of having received the status of an industry has

remained neglected due mainly to the bureaucratic bottlenecks and

various related reasons.

3.1.6Recent Efforts

In response to growing demands and awareness of the potential in this

sector major steps are being under taken to develop tourism in

Pakistan. Well thought over arrangement are being made in this

regard. Following recent activities undertaken by various

organizations are indicative of a national policy change and attitude.

i. The year 1996 marks the advent of professionally organized

tourist inflow from Italy to Pakistan. This has come in wake of a

recent agreement between one of the largest tour operators of

Italy, Vegetal Buonconsiglio and Pakistan Tours Ltd, (PTL) of

PTDC which is government's organization for promotion of

tourism in Pakistan. Two large groups of tourist have already

visited Pakistan and more are expected. Tourists inflow from

Italy which till now averaged around 3000 per year are expected

to double by next year. The country is likely to earn over US $ 5

million from the new Italian market of tourism. Similar

agreements are planned to be signed with 5 more companies of

Europe.

ii. A 2-day unique exhibition, the EXPO's TRAVEL - 96 was held in

Karachi, providing an opportunity to people to plan their

holidays in accordance with their disposable expenditure.

iii. The recently introduced STC Copter Safari provides an excellent

opportunity to visit Naran, Saiful Muluk, Kalam, Mahudand, and

the valley of Kalash. The one day trip from Peshawar includes

round trip, sight seeing, lunch and refreshments.

iv. Jashn-e-Swat is an annual event, which has been recently

organized at official level and is held with fervor.

v. TDCP has very recently established Institute of Tourism and

Hotel Management (ITHM) in Lahore to bring trained work force

into tourism industry.

vi. A 2-day workshop was held in Lahore on "Tourism in Pakistan -

Opportunities and Challenges" during May 1996.

vii. According to the Federal Additional Secretary for Tourism, Mr.

Hassan Raza Pasha, the plans to establish a National Tourism

Council are already being made, which will be hopefully

established very soon.

viii. Pakistan Tourism Human Resource Development Committee is

carrying out a programme for introducing new standards in eight

disciplines of hospitality sector to cater to the needs of foreign

tourists in Pakistan. The project is financed by the European

Commission for an integrated human resource development

programme for seven SAARC countries at a cost of 10 million US

dollars and coordinated by the South Asian Tourism Secretariat

(SATS) will train 48,000 workers of hospitality sector by the year

2000. Consequently, it was decided to hold 28 workshops to

train 600 persons in Pakistan alone.

3.2 INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITIES

The availability of various infrastructure facilities at selected locations

in Malakand Division are shown in Fig.3-A, and have been described

here. All the major settlements of the Malakand Agency are located

along the major road connecting the Malakand Division with Peshawar.

The small villages located within the valleys are also connected to

this regional road network through metalled roads or Jeepable tracks.

The Malakand Agency provides links to rest of the Division from

Dargai, being the last railway station from Nowshera and Mardan.

However, no air-link is provided to it from any other place. All major

settlements in Malakand Agency have electricity and telephone

facilities. Supply of water is also provided adequately to these

settlements. However, the sewerage facility is completely lacking in

the area and so are the appropriate measures for solid waste

collection and disposal. Sui gas supply has reached Dargai, and it is

planned to be extended to the Agency and beyond.

Swat is well connected to other parts of the Province through a good

quality road which runs north-south, linking all the major settlements

in the area. Within Swat this road starts from Malakand and leads all

the way upto Kalam in the north, from where two roads; one to

Mahudand and another to Athror provide reasonable links in the area.

The road providing accessibility to the Buner district and the Shangla

district, however are not of excellent quality as they need continuous

maintenance and improvement works. In addition to the main regional

road network, smaller access roads linking the smaller valleys are also

not of good quality. Rail link is provided upto Dargai only which is

located across Malakand Pass. However, regular commercial flights

are operated providing air link of Swat with the rest of the country.

The Saidu Sharif Airport is

Fig.3-A

located near Mingora across the River Swat. The Municipal water

supply system exists in Mingora and a limited number of villages only.

Most of other settlements either use spring water or river water for

drinking purpose. Water is normally available except at a few places

located at high altitudes where spring water and flowing streams are

away from the vicinity. Sewerage system is also limited to Mingora

city only. However, open drains exist in other human settlements.

Being a hilly terrain rain water drainage is not a problem. Haphazard

constructions however have posed problem of obstructing the flood

water run off during the past, with partial damages to the built up

properties. Municipal solid waste collection and disposal exists in

Mingora city only and that also is not without deficiencies in operation

and coverage. All other settlements have virtually no system as such,

creating serious environmental pollution problems, which need to be

taken care of. Mingora is connected with rest of the world through the

Nationwide Direct Dialling Telephone network. Telephone facility is

provided to almost all the settlements located along the main road.

Electricity in also provided to most of the areas in Swat. However, gas

facility has not yet reached in this part of the country though a

programme is on the anvil.

The situation in Dir is different than any other area of the division. Till

1960, there was no concept of any facility whatsoever as the Nawab

being the despotic ruler of the state, did not allow even a primary

school though he had a hospital for his dogs and falcons. He had

"Hakims" for his private treatment also. After attaining a district

status, a network of roads has now been constructed. The main

Chakdara-Dir road is black topped and so are quite a few more. Water

supply schemes have been established in major villages of the district.

Sewerage arrangements are being introduced now while there is no

concept of solid waste disposal, anywhere in the district.

Accessibility to certain places is perhaps the most basic requirement

and Chitral has been quite unfortunate in this regard as the only road

link to the rest of the country passes through Lowari top which

remains closed for almost 6 months of winter during the year. This

Top, located at more then 13,000 feet above sea level comes under

heavy snow fall during the winter and after the snow melts, the land

sliding activity takes place, bringing considerable damage to the road.

A proposal to build a tunnel under the pass has been a sweet dream

of the people of Chitral which has also been a broken promise of the

successive governments since past many decades. It is also a much

used and still effective political slogan. Even now, the last Prime

Minister of Pakistan, Mrs. Benazeer Bhutto has announced an amount

of Rs 200.0 millions in the 8th Five Year Plan for this purpose.

However, there are little hopes for this dream to come true. As an

alternate the people of Chitral are forced to use the road through

Arandu into Kunar Province of Afghanistan and then again into either

Mohmand Agency or Khyber Agency of the tribal areas. This route has

proved extremely unsafe and risky and is certainly not suitable to the

foreign and domestic tourists. Although Chitral has an airlink with

Peshawar and a daily flight operates, but it is always subject to the

weather conditions and rarely operates regularly. However, when the

Lowari Top opens during the summer both foreign as well as domestic

tourists flock to the area, which is otherwise well connected to its

various parts. No adequate access roads are otherwise provided to

the numerous small valleys of the area. Water is abundantly available

in Chitral valley. The major towns have tapped water supply, whereas

other settlements use either spring water or the river water. Planned

and well designed sewerage system does not exist anywhere in the

district. Electricity is available to only the major towns and that also

from the local generators of limited capacity. However, there are plans

to electrify the settlements in the near future. The district has by now

been connected with the national grid but extension of power lines are

yet to be done, depending on availability of financial resources.

3.3 EXISTING CIVIC AMENITIES

Fig. 3-B and Fig. 3-C give a brief description of the availability of civic

amenities and tourist facilities at selected locations in the Malakand

Division.

The settlements along the main road in Malakand Agency are

adequately served by the civic amenities including banks, post offices,

police stations, and shopping areas. The

Fig.3-B

Fig.3-C

Agency headquarters hospital located at Batkhela near the Malakand

Top is well equipped to provide basic as well as specialized health

facilities both to the locals and the transit visitors. Two other hospitals

at Dargai and Thana are also serving the respective area. Hotels are

almost non-existent in the area as the visitors including the tourists

are mostly transit passengers. A number of government rest houses

are located along the main road but these do not provide

accommodation to the visitors unless by special arrangements. A

PTDC road side facility near Batkhela has been provided recently.

There are large number of local restaurants located in the towns along

the main road but few are upto the standard. No tourist information

centre is located in the Agency area, however, information is provided

in an informal manner by the locals, if required. A detailed survey was

carried out by the Consultants team in order to ascertain the

availability and condition of the existing infrastructure facilities and

civic amenities in each of the potential sites, to become a basis for the

future plans and proposals. The copy of the proforma is attached at

the end of this Report as Annexure-I.

Being the capital of Malakand Division, most of the civic amenities are

concentrated at Mingora, Saidu Sharif. The branch facilities are

provided to most of the human settlements in the area. They include

banks, post offices, police stations, hospitals, dispensaries and

shopping Centers. Mingora is also the centre of the tourist activities

as most of the tourists leading towards north make a stop over at

Mingora. There are a number of hotels with varying bed capacity and

quality of service. However, there is only one five star hotel which is

located at Mingora. Hotels are scattered all over the Upper Swat at

various locations with varying quality and bed capacities. Restaurants

are also located in almost all the settlements along the road, but good

quality restaurants are few. Rest Houses belonging to various

government departments/agencies are also located at a few locations

in Swat, but are not available for the tourists. Police posts have been

established at important villages with sub-posts around for the

purpose of maintaining law and order. Postal services are also

available, whereas hospitals/Rural Health Centers have also been

established.

District Headquarter Hospital at Timargara is mostly fulfilling the

needs of the patients. NWD facilities have been extended to all the

important settlements. Shopping facilities exist at a number of places,

the main business Centers are Batkhela in Malakand Agency, while the

second one is at Timargara, the district headquarter of Lower Dir.

Good quality restaurants are not available anywhere. From tourism

point of view there is no facility whatsoever throughout along the

main Chakdara to Dir road nor anywhere in the beautiful lateral

valleys. At Panakot near Dir a PTDC motel is nearing completion.

The major urban settlements of Chitral are linked by the telephone

network, which however, needs to be further extended. Other urban

facilities including health centers, post & telegraph offices, police and

scout offices, banks and shopping areas are all located in the major

settlements of the area. There are few quality hotels in the district,

which are mainly concentrated in Chitral city. Most other towns do not

have decent arrangements for overnight stays. Local restaurants

catering for the needs of the locals and visitors alike are available at

most of the settlements, but their quality and level of services is

generally poor. However, some good quality restaurants are located

in Chitral town only. Other amenities like tourist information centers,

tour agents/operators and guides are also available at limited

locations.

4. DATA COLLECTION & ANALYSIS4. DATA COLLECTION & ANALYSIS

Preparation of Master Plan for the development and promotion of

tourism at Regional level is perhaps the first exercise of its kind ever

undertaken in Pakistan. Therefore no baseline data was available for

various aspects involved in tourism.

A large scale country vide and multiple questionnaire survey for this

purpose was neither possible to be carried out within the time allowed

nor was it within the scope of this Master Plan. However, necessary

opinion surveys have been conducted in order to provide adequate

background information and gain better insights into the problems

faced by the tourists and other related aspects. These surveys are

simply meant to reflect various opinions and have been carried out

with small sample size which can not be statistically analyzed on any

level of confidence. The results however reflect the existing conditions

in an appropriate manner to serve the purpose of this Master Plan.

Adequate data pertaining to various aspects has been collected both

from primary as well secondary sources, in order to gain in depth

insights to arrive at useful conclusions. Primary source data collection

involved number of site visits and questionnaire surveys. The details

of data collection and its analysis are as follows.

4.1 SURVEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF POTENTIAL

TOURISM SITES

The whole Division was visited and studied by the team of consultants

in order to identify the potential sites to be selected for tourism

attractions. They included sites of historical and cultural significance,

scenic and natural beauty and other places of interest. As a result, a

long list of potential sites was prepared and is included in chapter 6 of

this Master Plan.

4.2 SURVEY OF EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITIES

The data regarding the existing infrastructure facilities including

roads, water supply, sewerage, solid waste disposal, electricity and

telephone were collected from various government departments and

agencies. The data included the availability of service, level of service,

and condition of service in order to estimate deficiency in each facility

in terms of its provision at various specific locations with regard to the

potential tourism sites selected for the Master Plan. The departments

visited for this purpose included the C&W department, Public Health

Engineering Department and Local Municipal offices. Information was

also collected regarding the projects presently under execution and

those already approved for execution . The results of this survey have

already been given in chapter 3 of this master plan.

4.3 SURVEY OF EXISTING CIVIC AMENITIES

The data regarding the existing civic amenities including Police, Post,

Health, Banks etc. was collected from the Divisional Police

Headquarters, General Post Office, Peshawar, Directorate of Health

and Zonal Head Offices of various commercial banks respectively. The

data was than separated which was related to the specific selected

potential tourism sites. The data included the availability of service,

level of service and service area covered, in order to identify the

deficiencies. The analysis of this survey is also already given in

chapter 3 of this Master Plan.

4.4 SURVEYS OF THE FOREIGN TOURISTS

Foreign tourists were divided into two categories.

i) Foreign tourists

ii) Foreigners working in N.W.F.P

(A) Foreign Tourists

A total of 12 foreign tourists were randomly approached and

interviewed for this purpose. The results of the interviews are as

follows.

Out of the total 8 were male and 4 were female. Except one

Australian all other belonged to Europe with as much as 8 from U.K

alone. They belonged to a variety of professions including engineers,

students, farmer, factory workers and even a priest. The countries last

visited before Pakistan were India, Iran , China, Egypt and Malaysia,

out of which India, China and Iran are neighbors of Pakistan.

The foreign tourists expressed a multitude of purposes behind their

visit to Pakistan. They mostly came for tracking , mountain climbing,

sight seeing and to visit the historic and cultural places. A few of then

(2 out of 12) came for sex and drugs. This clearly reflects that the

tourists interested in sex and drugs are actually very small in number,

leading to the fact that good tourism is quite possible without sex and

drugs.

Peshawar, Swat, Chitral and Northern Areas were the places of

attraction for these tourists. Other places in Pakistan included

Mohenjodaro, Quetta and Bahawalpur.

Books and friends were among the most common means to come to

know about tourist places in Pakistan.

Half of the tourists entered into Pakistan by air while the others came

by road. After entering into Pakistan bus and coach were the most

common modes of transport used by the foreign tourists.

It is interesting to note that most of the foreign tourists were travelling

single and not in groups. The expenditure mostly ranged from Rs.

20,000/- to Rs. 40,000/- per person.

Foreign tourists have expressed the following problems faced by them

during their stay in Pakistan.

Problems.

i. Lack of information and sometimes wrong information.

ii. Harassment by local males to female tourists .

iii. Cheating in terms of many matters.

iv. Child beggars.

v. Lack of permission to visit Khyber Pass and Tribal Areas.

vi. Non-availability of transport at night.

vii. Difference in price charged to a foreigner or a local.

viii. Lack of credit card /currency exchange facility.

ix. Too many police check posts and movement restrictions.

x. Short duration of visas for Pakistan.

xi. Poor quality food and other goods.

xii. Lack of good quality , average period hotels.

Following are some of the suggestions came from the foreign tourists.

Suggestions.

i. Provide better and efficient garbage collection and

disposal system for generally clean environment.

ii. Police checking should be made at few places only to

make movement easier.

iii. Accessibility to more areas should be made easily

possible.

iv. Regulate the pricing system for hotels, restaurant and

transport.

v. Appropriate tourism literature should be made available

for better information.

It was revealed by the survey that normally the duration of the tourist

stay ranged from one week to one month. A copy of the survey

proforma is attached at the end of this report as Annex-II.

(B). Survey of Foreigners Working in NWFP.

A large number of foreigners working mostly with the international aid

agencies are living in NWFP, mostly in Peshawar. A total of 10 such

foreigners were interviewed in connection of tourism in NWFP. A copy

of the proforma is attached with this report as Annex-III. The analysis

of these interviews is as follows.

Out of the 10, only one was a female and all others were male. Except

one Afghan and one American all others were from different countries

of Europe. They had been in Pakistan for a period ranging from 1 year

to 4 years. Most of them were doing administrative jobs of managerial

level.

It is revealed from the survey that these foreigners quite frequently

visit the tourism places and often the same place more than once. The

most frequently visited places include Murree in Punjab, Swat, Chitral,

Kaghan and Guliyat Area in NWFP. Books, literature and friends have

again emerged as the most common means of information about

these places.

Following are some of the problems faced by these tourists.

Problems.

i) Lack of adequate and authentic information about specific

sites, even from the Tourist Information Centers of PTDC.

ii) Frequently cancellation of flights, especially to Gilgit and

Chitral.

iii) Lack of appropriate and adequate facilities.

Some of the suggestion made by these tourists to improve tourism

activity are as follows.

Suggestions.

i) Provide adequate information about the tourism locations.

ii) Improve the advertising and promotion of tourism.

iii) Improve physical conditions on tourist locations.

iv) Introduce more tourist locations and attractions.

v) Improve the general hotel conditions.

vi) Improve the means of communication.

vii) Improve hotel, restaurant and car rental services.

4.5 SURVEYS WITH THE LOCAL/DOMESTIC TOURISTS

A total of 20 questionnaires were completed at various locations in

the Region. A copy of the proforma is attached with this report as

Annex-IV. The analysis of the survey results is as follows:

Level of education is essentially a strong determinant of a persons's

awareness and attitude towards recreation. Therefore persons with

varied type of education level were interviewed. Out of the total 15 %

had no formal education, whereas 25 % of the total were metric and

as much as 30 % had intermediate level of education. Another 30 %

were graduates. Responding to the question, everybody agreed that

recreation was essential for life and a necessity for good health. A

significant majority of the respondents revealed that they go

frequently for recreation and as much as 95 % of the total

respondents confirmed it. It was revealed that most of the people (65

%) go for recreation on monthly basis. Another 10 % show an annual

opportunity for this purpose. Social, Cultural and tribal values are very

strong in NWFP. Most areas still reflect traditional attitudes in activities

of daily life including recreation of female family members. However,

these values are changing fast, but to some extent they are still intact

as shown by the survey results. The survey has shown that only 85 %

of the total respondents take their family out for recreation and the

remaining 15 % do not follow this practice. There are three common

reasons discovered for not taking the family out for recreation, which

are as follows:

i. Personal disliking

ii. Lack of security in public places

iii. Religious reasons

People go to various places for recreation. As much as 42 % of the

total go to the Malakand Region which includes the valleys of Swat,

Dir and Chitral. Swat being located closest is perhaps the most

popular destination. Places located in Punjab are the second most

popular destinations and they include Murree, Islamabad and Lahore,

as about 30 % of the total respondents go there during vacations.

Hazara Region is another popular destination as about 15 % go to

Abbottabad and Kaghan for this purpose. About 8 % remains in

Peshawar and visit the local recreation places including Hayatabad.

As much as 95 % of the total respondents expressed that such activity

will be good for the local economy, as it will generate income for the

local population.

4.6 SURVEY FOR THE COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

A total of 20 locals belonging the nearby areas where most of the

tourism activities take place were interviewed. A copy of the proforma

for this purpose is attached with this report as Annex-V. The results of

this survey are discussed in details in chapter 13 of this report being

the appropriate and relevant place.

5. OVERALL STRATEGY FOR THE MASTER PLAN5. OVERALL STRATEGY FOR THE MASTER PLAN

5.1 IMMEDIATE ACTION PROGRAMME. (IAP)

The overall strategy of the Master Plan is based on two pronged

approach; an immediate action programme for the initial period of 2

years, and a long term programme spanning over a period of 10

years. The long term programme period will include the immediate

action programme, and will be integrated accordingly.

The Immediate Action Programme (IAP) will essentially prepare and

provide a base, an environment and a set up for the implementation

of the long term programme . In order to achieve this objective and to

ensure smooth implementation of the Master Plan, the actions

proposed at this stage will not be based on large scale financing. This

stage will involve the preparation of various policies and regulatory

measures and their implementation in order to improve the existing

conditions in tourism sector without proposing the large scale new

facilities and infrastructure The major activities proposed to be

carried out during this period are as follows:

i. design, adopt and enforce the regulatory measures for the

provision of various tourism facilities.

ii. carry out marketing and promotion drives at intensive and

extensive levels.

iii. improve/upgrade the existing deficient infrastructure facilities

and the civic amenities.

iv. commence the institutional strengthening of STC to enable it to

fully discharge its future role as a leading agency in tourism

sector.

5.2 LONG TERM PROGRAMME.

Once the policies have been prepared and a general environment for

the tourism promotion an development has been established, the long

term programme will be implemented which will certainly involve

large scale funding and financing. This stage will involve the project

preparation, planning and implementation in a phased out manner

based on the established priorities. All the development projects are

proposed to be executed in this stage in an integrated fashion as will

be reflected later in the chapter on the project implementation. The

major activities proposed to be carried out during this stage are

therefor as follows:

i. extension of the infrastructure facilities and provision of civic

amenities to new sites in an integrated manner.

ii. extension of the level and coverage of the marketing and

promotion campaign.

iii. emphasis on revenue generation activities for sustainable

development in the tourism sector.

6. POTENTIAL TOURISM SITES AND LOCATION6. POTENTIAL TOURISM SITES AND LOCATIONSS

A long list of potential sites and location was prepared and included in

the Report on Existing Conditions. However, the list is neither

exhaustive nor it is within the scope of the consultants work to

prepare a 100% complete list of potential sites and location. In

absolute terms every location within the study area is a candidate for

development into some kind of tourism facility, be a picnic spot or a

roadside facility. Nonetheless, the consultants have made every effort

to identify all the potential sites and locations for the purpose of this

Master Plan.

6.1 MALAKAND AGENCY

Malakand Agency has a few places of interest to the visitors (Fig.4-A).

The details of which are as follows:

6.1.1 Jabban

This site is close to Dargai, located at the exit the Upper Swat Canal of

tunnel from the Malakand hill. Hardly four km away from Dargai, this

beautiful spot covered with thick growth of trees presents a

fascinating view. As the first of the two power houses is located here,

the churning of water fall, the humming of the transformers and

chirping of birds, all combined, pervade the atmosphere. Visitors,

mostly college students, boys and girls from all parts of the country

make it an annual feature of their excursion trips to visit this site and

spend a few hours. Some periodically come here for picnic which they

find as ideal place to enjoy with friends and realties.

Fig.4-A

6.1.2Malakand Pass

Malakand Pass throughout its length from the bottom near Dargai to

the top offers excellent views of scenic beauty and an interesting

drive. The view of valley down from the top is immensely impressive

and attractive. The lush green fields in the far distant and the shining

waters of Upper Swat Canal catch the attention of every passer by.

One or two view points at appropriate locations need to be established

with necessary protective measures.

As soon as one completes the ascent and reaches the top, one feels

like taking a little rest and to enjoy the view. Presently, the

restaurants located at the top do not offer adequate and decent

facilities, Therefore, a good quality restaurant is certainly required.

6.1.3Palai

This is a plain area at the foot of Chirat hill. A group of other villages

also co-exist here. These villages belong to the Khans of Thana.

Climatically the area is not attractive but its chief specialty lies in two

ways. Firstly the area abounds in old Buddhist remains. Valuable

statues have been recovered from the area illegally as well as

unauthorisedly. The second specialty of the area is the high quality

oranges produced here which have no comparison elsewhere in the

whole of the country. The area is accessible from two routes. One is

from Thana via Cherat mountain. The hill has a steep rough climb. The

black topping of the road is in progress under the ADP and it is hoped

that it will make the access easy for the area. The second and longer

route is from Shergarh of Mardan district. Palai area is also known for

production of tomatoes in autumn and early winter.

6.1.4Moora Hill

This high mountain resort is partly accessible by road as a television

booster has been established here but the scenic spots are a little

higher and not presently connected by road. The present electric line

can be extended to here and access road will also be necessary.

Spring water is already available. The average height of the area is

5500 feet which affords enough cool climate for the tourists. The

approach is from Thana to the T.V. booster and a little higher in the

hill.

6.1.5Seelai Patai

This site is a hill resort apposite Kalangai near the junction of Swat and

Panjkora rivers, at a height of 4500 feet above sea level. This is a

pleasant tourist potential site, which lacks good approach at present.

Initially some police protection may be needed as the population is not

tourism oriented.

6.1.6Left bank of River swat

The road from Batkhela to Swat passes through green fields with

shady trees on both sides of the road. This is particularly applicable in

the stretch from Batkhela to Thana. The river on the left somewhere

touching the road boundary is an added attraction. Cool aromatic

breeze even in the hot summer months refreshes the tourists while

driving.

A tourist park on the left bank of river Swat starting from Chakdara

Bridge upstream in a length of 2 to 3 Km with a reasonable width of

around 100 feet, constructed will provide a picnic spot for the visitors.

The site is ideal for such a facility. Opposite on the right bank are a

few huts each owned by the district administration, the Dir scouts and

others. These are however, not available for the tourists. A police

"Chauki" is already established at the bridge site and it can extend

safety cover for all tourists.

6.2 BUNER DISTRICT

The little explored and relatively unexposed district of Buner has

many potential sites for tourism as shown in Fig.4-B and discussed

below:

6.2.1. The Shrine of Pir Baba

This shrine located at Pacha Killi is known far and wide in the NWFP

and is visited by devotees from every district of NWFP, some from

Azad Kashmir and others from Punjab. The saint Said Ali was a pious

man devoted to worship and preaching of Islam. He therefore

attracted people and many of them reformed themselves. Incidentally

he was also a close relative of Moghal King Akbar.

A beautiful spot with a great deal of tourism potential from the natural

and scenic beauty point of view exists at a distance of about 2

kilometers north-east of this Ziarat which is most suitable to be

developed as a picnic spot.

6.2.2Mahaban Valley

This valley is known for its natural beauty in between green hills and

sweet spring waters. Of late the Frontier assembly unanimously

resolved to declare it a natural area for preservation. As no facilities

exist here the area is infrequently visited even by the nearby district

inhabitants of Swabi and Mardan.

6.2.3Elum/Dosarri

These are two adjoining hill tops of about 7000 ft height each and are

visible from a distance from what ever direction you look them within

Buner. Their view is more conspicuous during winter when the tops

are covered with snow. An interesting legend prevails in Buner in old

days, that the villagers when asked to decide which hill top

Fig.4-B

was higher than the other they were always indecisive. Some who

favored one hill top would fight with others who favored the other hill

top. Because of the high altitude these hill tops are most attractive in

summer for their fresh cool air and green surroundings of pine trees

and mostly medicinal shrubs and sweet smelling wild flowers. The

greenery is a good abode for wiled life, goats, monkeys, and even

leopards. No facility of tourism activity exists though potentially there

is no better place than this throughout Buner and in the near part of

Swat.

6.2.4Karakar Top

The beautiful mountain top falling on way from Barikot to Daggar has

good potential to be developed as a tourist attraction with related

ancillary facilities.

6.3 SWAT

Swat is graciously blessed by God in terms of natural and scenic

beauty. The journey on the road from Malakand to Swat for most part

is thrilling and exciting. The fruit gardens on one side and the River

Swat on the other side with snow clad peaks in farther hills and lush

green paddy fields by the river side presents an enchanting and

enamoring scenery. Almost all areas are beautiful and the preference

of one spot over the other is extremely difficult to decide. However,

for the purpose of this project and based on the criteria of tourism the

following sites/settlements have been designated as candidate sites

where some sort of tourism activity can either be established or

enhanced (Fig.4-C).

6.3.1Udegram Ruins

Udegram was an extremely large town where we can see the ruined

massive buildings dating back to the Kushan period. Here an imposing

staircase has been uncovered consisting of a series of steps about 25

feet long which belong to the Sassanian period. Arrows found in great

quantity testify to the fierce battles which in various

Fig.4-C

periods were fought for its capture. Coins, pottery, beads and a few

ornaments are precious items of reference in the chronological order

with reference to the various layers.

6.3.2Shankar Dara

There is a stupa most probably of the days of Ashoka and building

remains/ruins on a small hill, which also date back to the Buddhist

days which was the prime period of this religion for its followers in this

part of the country. A unique feature of the buildings constructed

during the Budhist civilization is that these buildings used to be

located on the adjacent hills adjoining the cultivable lands or in some

cases adjoining flowing water. This indicates that they would try to be

placed on safe commanding sites away from the vagary of floods

and/or possible invaders.

6.3.3Ghalegai Cave

This is a prehistoric cave near a stupa close to the village Ghalegai.

Details of this cave are shrouded and have to be explored. This is an

outstanding challenge for the present day archaeologists.

6.3.4Budha On Rock

Near village Ghalegai on road from Chakdara to Saidu Sharif is a large

statue of Mahatma Budha carved on a big rock and is an item of

attraction for the visitors. There is no sign post and most of the

tourists cross over the bend of the road unaware of the location. A few

steps were constructed during the past for observing the statue

closely. With manhandling during the past, the statue has been

disfigured. Even now it is not too late to mend. A railing with a small

gate and a sign post is needed. The sign post or board will give

indication for the location while the railing and the gate will give an

impression that the statue is meant to be preserved.

6.3.5Gogdara

Beyond Ghalegai , this is the most attractive site just off the main

road. Carvings of historic significance on rock here are of main

interest.

6.3.6Landaki Fishing Point

This is a beautiful spot as the Swat River hugs the road here in a bend.

Reclaimed river bed with grassy cover and few shady trees has made

this site attractive. Small improvised refreshment stalls have been

created for temporary stop over of passengers and tourists. Some

amateur anglers try their luck for fishing here, others enjoy the

roasted fish with a cup of tea or a cold drink.

6.3.7Mingora

Mingora is the district as well as the division headquarters and main

commercial area. Its shopkeepers are always prepared to engage in

serious bargaining and they offer wide range of items such as

jewellery, gems, embroidery, local handicrafts and Swati shawls.

Foreign made items are abundantly available as a number of people of

Swat are employed overseas and in merchant navy who bring these

items with them and dispose them off in the local market. It is the

main concentration of a large number of tourist facilities including

hotels and restaurants. A bridge across the river links Mingora with the

Airport and also with the newly developed Kanju Township.

6.3.8 Saidu Sharif

Saidu Sharif is the administrative capital of Malakand Division. Here is

located the Swat Museum, the remains of Butkada stupa, the Wali of

Swat palace, the tomb of Akhun of Swat called Saidu Baba and of

course, the only five star hotel of the Region.

6.3.9 Gulkada

At Gulkada, 2 kilometers north of Saidu Sharif, probably the most

important monastery of the country has been located. It surrounds a

big Stupa from where clandestine diggers have in the past many years

brought to light some of the most beautiful fragments of Gandhara

art. This is now within the precincts of Mingora extension of the town

where office complex of the district administration is situated. This

name of Gulkada is not more than two decades old. Its older name

was Butkadah meaning a place where statues are located.

The site is an old place of a village/ town of the Buddhist period and

excavations done here during the past by the archaeology department

exposed the ruins which are now visible to the visitor.

6.3.10 Swat Museum

Nearby is located a Museum called Swat Museum which houses many

valuable collections of the excavations in and around Mingora and the

adjoining archaeological sites. These collections are indications of the

life style of the people and their beliefs.

When we talk of collections preserved in the Museums here, at

Chakdara and even at Peshawar. the provincial metropolis, we are

reminded of the sad picture of reckless trade of these valuables going

on clandestinely on large scale. Measures are needed to discourage

and stop this illegal trade which deprives this region of its valuable

heritage which is in another way a brute attempt to misrepresent the

course of past history.

6.3.11 Marghozar

This beautiful spot is situated about 12 km towards South-East of

Mingora. There is a building of a palace made of white marble and

used to be occupied by the Wali's father, namely Abdul Wadood , alias

Bacha Sahib. There is an open mosque a spring of very cold water at a

lower level than the palace. A parking platform is also available

between the mosque and the palace. For several decades the building

remained vacant just to remind the rule of the ex-autocrat. Now this

has been leased out to become a restaurant-cum-hotel. It has also got

the facility of joy rides for the children. Since this is situated at a

height of about 4000 ft and has got shaded trees around and also

along the approach road, it has wholesome cooling effect on the

visitors.

6.3.12 Fizagat

The scenic river bank located a few kilometers from Mingora is a

tourist attraction spot throughout the year but more so during the

summer months as the cold snow melt water of Swat river affords

welcome relief to the visitors who sometimes enjoy a dip in the river.

The site has attraction as a picnic spot in all seasons of the year.

The back history of this attractive name is however very gruesome.

This site used to be called Qazaghat previously as condemned

prisoners of the then Swat State were executed here by firing squads

of the ex-ruler Bacha Sahib, Abdul Wadood by name and father of the

ex- Wali. Shariat Laws were practiced under the patronage of Bacha

Sahib Abdul Wadood by his appointed Qazis. The implementation of

the Islamic Jurisprudence by the then Qazis was according to their own

knowledge of Islam and there was no scope of appeal against the

verdict.

6.3.13 Miandam

This is situated midway between Mingora and Khwazakhela. It has got

an attractive commanding view over the narrow valley at the end of

which it is situated. A PTDC hotel has sometime back been established

which offers facilities to the tourists for stay. There is yet another Rest

House nearby. The connecting road between the two has been

proposed to be black topped at a cost of R: 2.0 million. A provision of

0.5 million is made for 1995-96 while R: 1.5 million are proposed to be

spent in 1996-97.

6.3.14 Malam Jaba

Malam Jabba is a Ski-cum-summer Tourist Resort, 35 kilometers from

Saidu Sharif (an hour long drive) where a beautiful white palatial

building of a newly built hotel welcomes the tourists. There are two

kinds of lift chairs. One for reaching the hill top and the other which

takes us to the skiing area during the winters. The resort is still not

fully developed. A luxurious hotel accommodation has been

constructed with the cooperation of Austrian Govt. Situated at a height

about 6,500 ft it has an attraction for the tourists to welcome them.

The tourists are however visiting the site infrequently . There could be

a few reasons for the same. Lack of publicity, uneasy and

uncomfortable access road and lack of adequate security measures

could be the possible reasons.

6.3.15 Manglor

This is a populous village situated on the left bank of Swat River

between Mingora and Khwazakhela. It is an important village

historically as it has remained the seat of rule during the Mughals and

even before that.

6.3.16 Madyan and Yakh Kandao

This is located on the main Mingora Kalam Road. By now it has a few

good hotels to accommodate tourists. From the bridge over Swat river

right in the bazaar, splashing turbulent water downstream and the

winding river upstream with green hills on the north and west present

an enchanting scenery. One is always tempted to have a stay of at

least a day or two if not more, to enjoy the view and bulling water of

Swat River.

6.3.17 Bahrain

It too is situated on the main Mingora-Kalam Road, just short of Kalam.

Here the gushing and splashing crystal clear cold water of two

tributaries meet which presents an absorbing moment to the mind and

the eyes. The swift movement of beautiful trout fish to and for is an

added attraction.

6.3.18 Kalam

Kalam (6,800 feet above sea level) is about 110 kilometers (65 miles)

north of Mingora and is the highest city in the Swat valley. A wooden

bridge links the city parts across the river. On all sides there are snow-

covered peaks of the Hindu Kush range, dense forests of fir, pine,

deodar and wild flowers. This is the terminus of the main glen starting

somewhere from Khwazakhela, as the valley here splits into two, one

towards Ushoo and the other towards Athrore. The river bed here

slightly wider, forms two small islands which further adds to the

beauty of the place as tourists reach the island with picnic

arrangements, photography and angling. It is to remind that trout fish

here is one of the greatest attraction, which is available under

licensed reel and rod.

6.3.19 Usho

Beyond Kalam on right is a beautiful valley by the name of Usho.

Traversing the road through thick grooves of pine trees, one is

enchanted by the attractive avenues of the greenery and the mild

ascent. Small hamlets on either side add to the beauty, away from

humdrum life of cities and vehicular noise. The valley is long enough

to touch more and still more scenic sites ahead.

6.3.20 Matiltan

Matiltan is the first small habitation in the Usho valley and akin to the

greenery just traversed. A tributary of Swat river with its constant

rumbling sound and shining snow melt water presents a perpetual

sources of joy to the mind. Angling for trout here is an astonishing

pastime.

6.3.21 Mahudand Lake

From Kalam, Mahodand Lake is 30 kilometers and to visit the lake one

has to hire a jeep. About 10 kilometers before the lake, there is a

fascinating waterfall. It is the most beautiful and biggest fall in this

area. En route to Mahudand one comes across two or at least one

glaciers, which may pose an obstacle for onward journey.

6.3.22 Athrore

The left of Kalam valley upstream leads to Athrore. The shingle road

runs all along the tributary of Swat river for 24 kilometers. This

tributary is in fact the major affluent of the two and because of

comparatively steeper slope presents an awe when this water strikes

against very high rocks. Up and up as we approach Athrore proper,

the valley becomes wider and wider. Green fields of potatoes and

corns present a true natural picture of village life undisturbed by the

artificial human innovations. Goats grazing on the slopes, small

children cutting grass along the terraced field while singing in their

dialects is a common scene.

6.3.23 Kandolo Dand

This is a beautiful lake in the extreme end of Athrore valley, so far

seen and visited by very limited number of tourists. The lake is one

and half kilometer long and one kilometer wide. Its beauty lies in its

location at a very high altitude and surrounded by the high mountains.

One distinct feature of this lake is that its water does not flow directly

from the lake itself. Unlike Saiful Muluk Lake in Kaghan, water flows

from the toe of the hill. This is a unique specialty gifted by God. This

specialty is an indication to the fact that it will survive many vagaries

of climatic changes if and when they happen in the near or distant

future.

To reach the lake one has to take a road passing Athrore bazaar.

Gabral is the terminus of the road beyond which one has to walk on

foot. Gabral is accessible through jeep with about 1 hour run while the

journey on foot takes about 2 hours with 2 to 3 times rest on the

climb. For about 1 hour enjoys the fast gushing stream flowing

downhill while striving to go up. You reach a forest Rest House

beautifully located in the thick groove of trees all around it. Up you go

and reach the top, you see the beautiful lake surrounded by high hills

and blue sky in the background. The reflection of the trees in the

crystal clear water presents a captivating scene. The lake is said to be

about 100 feet deep. Kandalo Dand means a lake of bowls. One

interpretation is that it is exactly a bowl in shape, some what oval. The

other is legendary tale that a golden bowl used to float on the surface

but disappeared later on for unknown reasons. Whatever the meaning

the lake is not less than a golden bowl by all means.

6.3.24 Gabral

Gabral is the next beautiful spot in the Athrore valley. This is a

beautiful resort of the valley 8 kilometers ahead in the same direction.

6.3.25 Khawazakhela

Khwazakhela, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from Mingora on the

bank of the Swat River, is the largest commercial centre in this part of

the valley. The main street is worth exploring for silver tribal jewellery,

locally woven and embroidered fabrics, carved woodwork, semi-

precious stones and ancient coins. The bridge across the Swat River at

Khwazakhela leads to a metalled road that follows the river all the way

down to Chakdara. One road on the north westerly direction leads to

Besham and the Karakuram Highway.

6.3.26 Kabal

Kabal is an attractive site located on the north of Mingora town across

river Swat in relatively plain land at the foot of hill range. Nearby is

the airport connecting Swat with the rest of the country. Kabal is a

Golfers Paradise. An eighteen-holes golf course is open all the year

round and a tourist can play by paying the nominal government fee. A

Rest House and a large fruit orchard are also located here. A modern

hotel is planned to be constructed here in the coming years which will

provide facilities of stay for tourists which is presently lacking as the

Rest House is not available to visitors.

6.4 SHANGLA DISTRICT

Shangla is the smallest among all the districts of Malakand. It has the

following potential sites for tourism activity (Fig.4-D).

6.4.1Shangla Top

It is a mountain top with a great deal to natural beauty. Being located

in relatively higher altitude it remain covered with snow during winter.

The main Shangla road actually passes from the top. Most travellers

stop here for a short time . The place is presently without any facility

or amenity.

6.4.2Besham

Besham is an important settlement located at the junction of roads

with the Karakuram Highway. A number of tourist facilities including

hotels, motels and restaurants are already offering a wide range of

services.

Fig. 4-D

6.5 LOWER & UPPER DIR DISTRICTS

The sites and locations having potential for tourism activities in Dir are

shown in Fig 4-E and described below.

6.5.1Churchill Picket

This is situated at the hill top on the left of Chakdara bridge on river

Swat. The bridge separates Dir from Malakand Agency . The Churchill

Picket is named after Sir Winston Churchill the British Prime Minister

during the World War and was built in 1895. He participated in the

Malakand Operation in 1895 as a lieutenant. At the base of the

Churchill picket is the excavated site of Dam kot, which further

increases historic importance of the locality. The picket was also

visited by Queen Elizabeth in 1961 when she visited Swat on the

invitation of then President of Pakistan Field Marshal Muhammad

Ayub Khan.

The site is easily accessible. All facilities such as police post, bank,

dispensary and shopping area exist nearby . A recently constructed

motel by PTDC is a new addition to the facilities. This is situated in

between Batkhela and Chakdara.

6.5.2Chakpat or Chatpat

At hardly two kilometers from the Chakdara bridge on the north

westerly direction, half a km from the main Chakdara-Dir road a

village by the above name is situated. This small but historic village is

located at the foot of the hill, close to which is a mound.

Archaeologists detected signs of old relics of Buddhism and excavated

the area. As per their expectations and initial visible signs, they were

able to find valuable statues, which are now adorning the show eases

of the Chakdara museum. The site is significant from historic and

archaeological stand point and is of interest to the tourists.

Fig 4-E

6.5.3 Chakdara Museum

The museum is situated on the main Chakdara - Dir road, at a distance

of one and a half Km from the Chakdara bridge. It is 135 Km away

from Peshawar and 40 Km from Saidu Sharif-Swat. The collection in

the Museum comprises of items from the finds of excavations around

in the area. The Adamzai plain where the museum is situated and the

adjoining Talash plain are rich in archaeological sites, mostly exploited

by the archeology department of the Peshawar University. The

collection in the Museum is a true representation of the old civilization

of the then Buddhist era.

6.5.4Ouch

Located about 7 Kilometers from Chakdara and one a half km from the

main road on the right side is a village called Ouch. This is the largest

settlement in lower Dir District and is important from many angles. It

has got sweet springs, quite a few in number, which not only satisfy

the needs for drinking but also cater to a good extent for irrigation.

Historically, these springs have been mentioned by Babar, the Mughal

king, who passed through this village and crossed over to Swat.

There are also valuable relics, some of which (the hair) are reported to

belong to the Holy Prophet (PBUH). These have been housed in a

portion of the mosque called Noor Mahal. Every year in the Islamic

month of Rabiul Awal their display is a part of the holy function of

Milad.

6.5.5 Laram Sar

This is a peak of the mountain called Laram (Scorpion). The reason

behind this name is not fully known. The peak is 6,000 feet high with

fresh cold air throughout the year. It is located on a bye-pass road

from Chakdara-Dir road via village Ouch. The site is ideal for a tourist

resort but is lacking in certain amenities like hotel accommodation and

comfortable access road. The existing road is extremely rough.

Potentially the site has bright chances of improvement to attain a

reputation as tourist attraction. An encouraging development is the

proposed black topping of this road. The pace of work however ,is

extremely slow and needs to be accelerated by allocating more funds.

The site was recently visited by the STC management and a

consensus was found regarding the development of the site.

6.5.6Barcharai Top

This is a hill top named as such and is situated at a distance of 8 Km

from Chakdara on left side of Chakdara Dir road. The top is 5700 feet

high and the hill abounds in wild life. There is no access road except

approach by foot. All other facilities exist in the nearby settlement of

Ouch and Talash. The site can be developed into an attractive and

healthy tourist resort by constructing a jeepable road and suitable

accommodation for overnight stay.

6.5.7Sheringal Valley

This valley is located in the interior of Dir on a diversion road taking

off 8 Km short of Dir, on the right of Chakdara - Dir road. It has a 40

Km long stretch with beautiful landscape, walnut trees on these slopes

on the hills and green terraced fields, which are irrigated by a

tributary of Panjkora river flowing all along the road in the valley. The

road is fairly motorable. Important villages are Sharingal are Thai,

Lamothani and Kumrat which are located along this stretch. The last

one is the terminus. The snow melt water flowing in the river as well

as in the streams even during summer is as cold as snow itself. The

road was developed when the sawing industry of timber complex was

being established. No tourist facility exists presently but the valley is

potentially rich for such as industry. Suitable huts for overnight stay

should be built at Thai, Lamothai and Kumrat.

6.5.8 Nehag Dara

6.5.9 Osherai Dara

6.5.10 Karo Dara

6.5.11 Toremang Dara

These valleys of the interior Upper Dir district are rich in

greenery of all sorts from Walnuts, almonds and wild berries. The

terraced fields covered with green paddy fields present fascinating

scene during July and August. The water falls with silver shining water

are added attraction. The last hill on Osherai Dara has a beautiful

natural lake at the top equal to the size of Saiful Muluk Lake in Kaghan

Valley. Access road to the top is necessity. Each valley needs at least

one tourist facility to encourage visitors.

6.5.12 Barawal Valley

This valley starts on the left from 8 Km short of Dir town and is about

20 Km in length. Barawal is at the end of this stretch with picturesque

landscape, green walnut trees. Iron ore is extracted by the locals since

time immemorial. It is worth mentioning that all the weaponry of the

ex-ruler of Dir called Nawab was manufactured from this ore, and the

canon guns thus manufactured were also used in Kashmir Jehad in

1947. The gunners of Nawab were expert marksmen. No tourists

activity presently exists in the area. Lack of interest in the

environment by the authorities is resulting in thinning of greenery

which must be checked, to save this attractive valley from

denudation.

6.5.13 Benshahi

About 6 Km north of Summer Bagh in Jandool area of Dir is the hill

called by this name. This is part of the boundary of Afghanistan. The

hill is about 7000 feet high with strong winds blowing all the year

around. For summer months it is an ideal place to stay. On other side

of the valley is a plateau as green as a meadow. Tourist resorts are

needed to attract tourists to this beautiful hill top. The near

settlements is Samar Bagh where all the infrastructure facilities are

available.

6.5.14 Timargarah

This is the district headquarter of Lower Dir and is the junction for Dir

and Jandool. It is a historic site situated on the bank of River Panjkora.

Archaeological excavations have proved historical importance of this

place. All facilities exist here except those as tourist resort. Since this

is an important town in Dir and is situated on the Chitral - Kafiristan

route, the necessary amenities become all the more vital.

6.5.15 Dir/Panakot

Dir used to be the headquarter of the ruler - Nawab. Panakot with

7000 ft height enjoys its attraction during summer which was the

residential place of the Nawab. PTDC has recently completed a road

side facility here.

6.5.16 Lowari Top

This is a hill top 10000 ft high and is a natural boundary between

Upper DIR district and Chitral district. Because of its height it is snow

covered for about six months during the year, and is a handicap in the

development activities in Chitral. Attempts to have a tunnel across

this snow covered mountain during the past could not succeed mostly

because of financial constraints. If and when a tunnel is drilled and

safe passage to Chitral made possible the year round, the distract

would develop.

When the snow melts and the road between Dir and Chitral is

passable, the ascent and descent on this hill present a feat of

motoring. Quite a few tourists cannot face the descent and prefer to

shut their eyes while others enjoy this thrill. When the top and the

approaches to the top are snow covered during the winter months, a

journey by air presents still more a thrilling joy when the snow all

round is viewed from the plane.

6.6 CHITRAL

Chitral is the farthest district of Pakistan, which is surrounded by some

of the highest mountain ranges of the world. Its is mainly accessible

by road through Lowari Pass in the south, which remains closed for

almost six months of the year, making it one of the most inaccessible

areas of the country. The specific geographical and topographical

conditions make it one of the most attractive places from the tourism

point of view. The sites and locations identified as potential tourism

places are shown in Fig. 4-F and described as under.

6.6.1Ziarat

Ziarat is perhaps the first point of attraction after scaling the Lowari

Top into Chitral. The place is located approximately 8 kilometers from

the top on the main road. Chitral militia maintains a permanent post

here. The place has a significant function/role to play during the

journeys to and from Chitral as it is used for the stay by the

commuters during the period when Lowari Top is closed. Both tourists

and local passengers are forced to stay here during that period. The

place has another significant role to play as the proposed Lowari

tunnel as and when it is built, will have an exit at this point.

The place has nothing else to offer as no significant activity takes

place here. Few substandard hotels provide accommodation to the

passengers who are forced to stay here due to reasons stated earlier.

These hotels also offer substandard restaurant facility. No telephone,

electricity, post and telegraph or other facilities are provided here.

However, the militia has a wireless contact with other areas in the

region.

All foreign visitors get themselves registered here before entering into

Chitral, which is done by the Chitral Scouts.

Fig. 4-F

6.6.2Mirkhani Fort

At the junction of roads, one from Arandu and the other from Lowari

Top is located the historic Mirkhani Fort, at a distance of about 15

kilometers from Lowari Top. At this point Chitral river turns right

towards Arandu and then into Afghanistan. The Fort itself is located on

a higher level giving it prominent position from where the rulers in old

days used to command the area. The Fort at present is occupied by

Chitral Scouts as a wing headquarter.

Mirkhani provides civic amenities and services to the visitors in

addition to its own population comprising approximately 200 houses.

Basic facilities including post office and telephone are available here,

however, the place is without electricity, which is planned to be

provided in the near future. Some 40 to 50 shops are located along

the main road catering to the needs for the local population as also

the visitors.

6.6.3Naghar Fort

About 3 kilometer from Mirkhani Fort towards Chitral, the Naghar Fort

is located on the bank of Chitral River. The Fort is presently occupied

by a nephew of the ex-Mehtar of Chitral who welcomes a number of

foreign tourists every year. A suspension bridge on river Chitral links

the Fort with the main road. The place is rich in natural beauty in the

surrounding areas and is a favorite stop over for the foreign tourists.

However, it does not offer any civic urban facility of any kind, except a

telephone link which is provided to the Fort only.

6.6.4Arandu

Located at the border with Afghanistan, Arandu is about 32 Km from

Mirkhani. Arandu is the last major Pakistani town before entering into

Afghanistan and provides an alternate route linking Chitral with rest of

Pakistan. But almost half of the journey passes through the Kunar

District of Afghanistan. Mostly the local population uses this route

during the periods when Lowari Top is closed for all traffic. The route is

not used by the foreign tourists as it is not safe.

A few hotels of substandard level provide accommodation to the

passengers who are forced to stay for one reason or the other. A small

market provides the shopping facilities to the local population. Arandu

is an old settlement which has played historic role during the ancient

times being en route of the foreign invaders. A post office, a police

station and telephone office are located here, however no bank or any

other facility is located. Electricity has not yet been provided to

Arandu.

6.6.5Drosh

Drosh is the second largest town of Chitral District with an

approximate population of 10,000 persons. At local level this is the

biggest urban center in lower Chitral. Located at a distance of about

37 kilometers from Lowari Top, this is the first urban settlement of any

significant size. It used to be the headquarter of Chitral Scouts for may

years, till recently when it was shifted to Chitral city.

Drosh is a historic city which witnessed a number of historic events in

the past. It used to be a sort of a cantonment in olden days due to its

strategic location in the surrounding areas. A number of important

Darras (valleys) fan out from Drosh towards different directions. The

most important of these Darras are Shishikoh and Ursun.

Drosh is a Tehsil headquarter of Chitral District where a number of

urban and civic facilities are located which include a hospital, a

telephone exchange, a post office, a police station and a Rest House of

C&W Deptt. The office of the Extra Assistant Commissioner is also

located here. The town is served with adequate infrastructure facilities

including water supply and electricity. However, sewerage system is

comprised of open drains. It happens to be the winter station for

whole of Chitral valley, where otherwise the temperature are

extremely low. Drosh is also connected by a helicopter service with Dir

during winter when Lowari Top is closed. A site for the old

airport/airstrip used by the British, is still existing in Drosh. The garden

of Drosh and the area as a whole are attractions for tourists during

their short stay in Drosh. As against its strategic situation en route to

Chitral, the hotel activity is not significant. It is most probably so

because very few tourists choose Drosh for an overnight stay. They

rather prefer to move on to Chitral.

6.6.6Ayun

Ayun is perhaps the most beautiful and the largest single village in

Chitral This village is actually located at the mouth of the three

famous valleys of Kalash. The very situation of this village assigns it a

significant importance. Ayun is located on the right bank of Chitral

River and is accessible by two suspension bridges from the main

Chitral Road. The village is connected by telephone as also a police

station, Basic Health Unit (BHU) and post office are located here. The

village is served by electricity through a privately owned power

generator. This village also offers jeep service to the visitors travelling

to the Kalash valleys. A small bazaar caters for the local needs for

shopping etc.

6.6.7Kalash/Kafiristan

The Kafirs are a primitive tribe with their origin lost in antiquity. Some

15 kilometers south of Chitral city and west of Chitral river, there lies

the entry to a gorge between the high and rocky cliffs. The gorge

slopes gently upwards, fanning out into a number of smaller valleys,

and it is in these valleys that the last surviving Kafirs dwell. Following

are the three major valleys of Kalash:

i. Birir

ii. Bamburat

iii. Rumbur

This tribe though surrounded by the Muslim population follow their

own religion, customs and beliefs which dates back to several

centuries, may be thousands of years. There are two distinct type of

Kafirs: the Bashgarlis (Red Kafirs) and the Kalash (Black Kafirs). The

Chitrali Kafirs are Kalash. The Red Kafirs are mostly Muslims converted

during the last century and are settled in the upper valley of Chitral.

They are also known as Shaikhs. Some historians define them as Indo-

Iranian, while others consider that they are the descendants of Greeks

left behind by Alexander the Great.

The main access to the Kalash valley is from Ayun which provides all

the basic facilities and amenities to these valleys.

6.6.8Chitral

Chitral town, the largest urban settlement in Chitral Valley, the seat of

rulers in old days and the present day district headquarters is located

at a distance of 79 kilometers from Lowari Top. Invaders have been

entering Chitral both from Afghanistan and Gilgit. Chitral Fort has

been a strong defence post for the state during the invasions. The Fort

is well preserved and as a central point of attractions for the visitors.

Being the district headquarters with a population of about 14,000

persons Chitral enjoys all basic urban facilities and amenities including

hotels, restaurants, post and telegraphs service, telephone, electricity,

banks, shopping areas etc.

Interesting places in Chitral include the Chitral Fort, Shahi Mosque,

Shahi Bagh, Police Bagh, Council Buildings and the Polo Ground.

Chitral maintains a strong polo team during the annual polo festival at

Shandoor. One remarkably beautiful and interesting attractive place is

Birmolasht which is a plateau adjacent to Chitral.

6.6.9Garam Chashma

The significance of Gram Chashma as is reflected from its name is due

to the natural hot springs of mineral (sulphur) water located here.

These springs are famous to cure a number of skin diseases for which

people from local areas as well as from other parts of the country

come here. A small settlement of about 400 houses has also emerged

here with some commercial activities to cater for the needs of the

local population as well as of the visitors. Garam Chashma is located

at a distance of about 35 kilometer from Chitral, therefore, the

overnight stay facilities are not locally required. However, a police

station, telephone office, a rest house and a post of Chitral Scouts are

located here. The village has its own water supply system and an

electricity supply system through a private power generator.

Garam Chashma is anticipated to gain more attention in the near

future as the proposed road leading to the Central Asia will pass

through here before entering into Afghanistan. The project has now

entered into a serious phase as the stretch of road passing through

Afghanistan is already under execution and the Chief Minister of

NWFP, Mr. Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao has recently paid a special visit

to Garam Chashma in this regard.

6.6.10 Gobar Bakh Darra

Gobar Bakh Darra is a pass en route to Afghanistan from Pakistan at a

distance of about 20 Kilometers from Gram Chashma. Gobar Bakh is

the last village of Chitral before crossing the border. Gobar Bakh has

little significance otherwise, however, the scenery in far distance

showing the snow clad peaks of Hindu Kush is quite attractive and

enchanting.

6.6.11 Koghoozi

Located at a distance of about 20 kilometers from Chitral to Mastuj is

a beautiful spot with tremendous natural beauty. The place is famous

for the "Chinar" and walnut trees which are found in abundance here.

Koghoozi village has a population of about 2,000 persons with a small

bazaar catering for the local needs. In addition to walnuts and grapes

pomegranates are also in abundance in and around this area which is

well irrigated by natural springs. A post office, a hospital, locally

generated electricity, telephone, water supply and police post are all

existing in the village.

6.6.12 Trichmir Top

The mighty peak of Trichmir with elevation of more than 25,000 feet is

located towards west of Chitral. This peak being the most striking

feature of the natural landscape can be seen from every where in

Chitral. The peak remains covered with snow all year round and during

the summer sunshine looks as beautiful as a bride with full dress

condition.

It is a popular trekking attraction both for domestic as well as foreign

tourists. Scaling the peak is an open and inspiring invitation with a lot

of temptation to the trackers. Guides for trekking are available from

Chitral in addition to all necessary arrangements for this purpose. The

trekking expeditions normally are carried out from June to September.

Challenging as it is the climb is at the time fraught with danger of fatal

fall.

6.6.13 Buni

The third largest urban center of Chitral with a population of about

8,000 persons, is the headquarters of Mastuj sub-division. Located

along the main Chitral-Mastuj Road at a distance of 75 Kilometers

from Chitral, Buni is situated on the western side of the River Chitral. A

trackable suspension bridge links the town with the main road.

Buni is located on relatively plain area which is considerably vast in its

coverage. Buni is well known for its fruits which are delicious and rich

in taste. Apples, grapes, apricots and peach are found in abundance,

which are mostly consumed locally and also go waste due to the lack

of appropriate facilities for storage and transportation to other areas

of the country. A hot mineral spring is also located in Buni which is

visited by a large number of local and domestic visitors.

Buni is provided with a local water supply system and electricity by

WAPDA power house. The facilities like Post office, Police station,

Markets, Banks, Telephone exchange etc are also located in Buni. A

number of government office buildings and rest houses are also

located in Buni. No hotel facility is located due to the lack of demand

by the visitors for overnight stay. Some local restaurants in the main

bazaar of Buni however, offer ordinary local foods. A T.V booster is

under construction after which the PTV services will be extended to

this area. Buni Zom located majestically and facing Buni town adds a

lot to the beauty of the area. The peak remains covered with snow all

the year round.

6.6.14 Snoghar

Snoghar is an old settlement of Chitral which is known because of its

natural springs which are amazingly large in number. It is therefore

called the home of springs. The area is rich in natural beauty and

natural vegetation.

Snoghar is located at a distance of about 87 kilometer from Chitral on

the left side of Yarkhun River near the main road. The old road used to

pass through here. The place is also accessible from Buni. The village

is comprised of 300 to 400 houses. A striking feature of the village is

its grassy fields where the grass is thick like austro turf. Glaciers are

located relatively closer from here at a distance of not more than 3

hours walk. A polo ground is also located in Snoghar.

A legend among the local population says that once this glacier was

broken and a large number of live frogs emerged from it. When the

frogs were killed, pieces of gold were discovered from them. A post

office and BHU are located in Snoghar to cater for the local population.

6.6.15 Mastuj

The historic settlement of Mastuj was the headquarter of Mastuj

District during the time of Mehtars. However, it was made a part of

Chitral District later on, but remained the seat of sub-division Mastuj

which it is to date. After Drosh, Chitral and Buni, Mastuj is the last

major settlement of Chitral valley towards north. The town is located

at a distance of 112 kilometer from Chitral and 33 Km from Buni in the

north, along River Yarkhun.

All the administrative offices of sub-division level are located at

Mastuj. The town is actually situated at the mouth of two Darras

(valleys) one is Darra Laspur and the other is Yarkhun. Darra Laspur

leads to the famous Shandoor Pass, whereas the other takes one to

Broghol Pass which is about 150 kilometer away in the north leading

further to Wakhan Area of Afghanistan. Laspur valley leads to

Shandoor Pass after 43 Km and ultimately enters into Gilgit after

crossing Shandoor Top.

A PTDC motel is near completion in Mastuj, which will be perhaps the

only hotel of reasonable standard in Mastuj. A known personality of

the area is Col (Retd.) Khush Waqt al Mulk who is a charming

personality and is a definite tourist attraction. He has been the

Governor of Mastuj during the time of Mehtars. Most foreign tourists

like to pay visit to him, who also offers overnight accommodation to

them.

The people of Mastuj are fond of Polo and maintain a strong polo

team. The polo stadium of Mastuj is well known in the area. A degree

college is located in Mastuj together with other public buildings. All

basic public facilities are existing including water supply, electricity,

telephone, post & telegraph, police station, banks and hospitals etc.

The wing headquarter of the Chitral Scouts is also located here.

6.6.16 Pari Mari

Pari Mari is a small village at a distance of 6 kilometer from Mastuj.

There is an interesting feature of this place which is a very old

"Chinar" tree of extra ordinary size, whose trunk is submerged in mud

caused by the land slides from the surrounding mountains. The four

enormous branches of the tree have a coverage approximately one

acre of land. The village otherwise is an ordinary place but with the

abundance of local fruits. There is no other urban facility or civic

amenity available here.

6.6.17 Shandoor Top

Shandoor Top is located at the end of Laspur valley which is about 43

kilometers long starting from Mastuj. The height of Shandoor Top is

above 13,000 feet. The pass leads to the territory inside Gilgit.

Shandoor has gained significant fame both nationally and

internationally due to the annual festival of Polo which is attended by

a large number of visitors from all around the world, including the

dignitaries like President and Prime Minister of Pakistan. The festival

lasts for almost 10 days during which various interesting cultural

programmes of music, dance and sports are performed. The festival is

held during the last week of June or the first week of July.

A lake located close to the pass called Shandoor lake is a beautiful

spot. The lake becomes frozen during the winter when it can be scaled

on foot. While travelling between Chitral and Gilgit. this route is open

during the summer only.

6.6.18 Mooza Takht Khatan at Reshun

Reshun is a small village located at a distance of about 50 Km north of

Chitral before reaching Buni. The village offers significant material

reflecting the traditional culture of Chitral. The village is known

because of a single room located here which is all made of wood and

shows Chitrali skills in wood designs and carving. The room measures

30 feet x 24 feet in size.

6.6.19 Brep

Brep village consisting of about 900 houses is known for its apples and

walnuts and beautiful scenery. The gardens of these trees surround

the village on all sides. The apples of Brep are unique in taste as also

are its walnuts. So delicate is the walnut shell that if fallen from the

tree, the shell gets broken. The village is located about 24 Kilometer

away from Mastuj in Yarkhun valley right along the main road.

6.6.20 Madak Lasht

This a beautiful valley offering scenic views near Drosh. Six months of

summer are very pleasant. We can enter Dir through this valley. The

inhabitants of this area belong to Persian ethnic group. Natural Deodar

trees are abundant in quantity.

6.6.21 Chitral Gol

Gol means a stream. The Chitral Gol is a small valley, with outstanding

natural landscapes. Natural wild life like deer, "markhore, Titer,

Choter" are found. There are also numerous archaeological sites

representing the old Buddha civilization. The rulers of Chitral known as

Mehtar used to play game in the valley.

6.6.22 Birmugh Lasht

This is a beautiful spot located at a distance of 5 km from Chitral and

is situated on a relatively higher altitude, where Mehtar of Chitral has

his rest house.

6.6.23 Goleen Gol Valley

It is another beautiful valley with natural vegetation of trees of deodar

and fruits. Its entrance lies near Koghoozi village towards Mastuj, at

one km distance. The mountains of this place are high with vertical

slopes looking splendidly with snow covered white peaks. The natural

water of springs flow and looks beautiful. The people of this area do

grazing and maintain goats and sheep. The government has started to

construct a grid station and a hydal power project.

6.6.24 Tirich Valley

This valley is 60 km long with beautiful natural coverage of

vegetation. Through Tirich Valley we can reach Tirich Top. It is sub-

Tehsil of Mulikoh. Most of the tourists like to pass this beautiful valley.

It is close to Pak-Afghan international boarder.

6.6.25 Shahjinali

It is a uniform level flat spot full of beautiful natural landscape.

Walking through this valley one can enter in sub-Tehsil of Turikoh of

Sub-division Mastuj.

7. DEFINITIONS OF TOURIST FACILITIES7. DEFINITIONS OF TOURIST FACILITIES

Following are the definitions of various tourism facilities and activities

proposed in the Master Plan in terms of their purpose, function, area

and other necessary information.

i. HOTEL

A hotel is meant to be a building providing facilities to stay overnight

for the tourists and visitors, includes a number of bed rooms, a

kitchen, a restaurant, a lobby and other facilities for the entertainment

of the visitors . Hotels have been classified in various categories from

single star to five stars depending upon the number and type of

facilities provided.

ii. MOTEL

A motel is meant to be a building providing facilities to stay for the

tourist and visitors overnight in a limited capacity and duration.

Generally a motel is a place for shorter stays than in hotel and offers

limited facilities as compared to that of a hotel . In the context of this

Master Plan a motel is essentially awned and or managed by STC.

iii. TOURIST HOSTEL

A tourist hostel is a building with a number of rooms for overnight stay

of the tourists with common bathrooms and no restaurant or cooking

facility. It offers accommodation on thrifty rates with no extra

facilities. In the context of this Master Plan a tourist hostel is owned

and or managed by STC.

iv. RESTAURANT

A restaurant is an area where meals and snacks are served. It

necessarily is comprised of a dining hall and a kitchen . An open

eating/ sitting space is optional. In the context of this Master Plan a

restaurant is essentially owned and or managed by STC.

v. PICNIC SPOT

Picnic spot is an area with potential of scenic and natural beauty ,

suitable for passive and light active recreation of the tourists. It will

comprise of grassy field, landscaping, sitting place, and properly

designed walkways. The picnic spot varies in size but will not be less

than 5 kanals in area in order to adequately perform its functions and

will not be more than 20 canales to become a recreation park. In the

context of this Master Plan the proposed picnic spots will be designed ,

developed owned maintained and managed by STC.

vi. ROADSIDE FACILITY.

A roadside facility is a small ..kiosk offering light refreshments like

cold drinks, candies, cigarettes etc. A small car park for 4 to 5 cars can

also be provided to facilitate its functions. STC will encourage the

small scale local entrepreneurs or individuals to establish such

facilities on designated sites.

vii. TOURIST FACILITATION CENTRE.

Tourist Facilitation Centers (TFC) are proposed to actually replace the

presently existing Tourist Information Centers. The Tourist Facilitation

Centre will have a much broader scope of services and facilities

offered to the tourists. In addition to providing information regarding

the places of interest, the TFC will also provide information regarding

day to day whether conditions, road conditions, availability of hotel

accommodation during the peak season, alternate tour/route plans,

make contacts with car rentals, tour operators, tour guides etc. Tourist

Facilitation Centre will be located along the main roads at prominent

and easily accessible sites. It will cover small area comprising of 2

rooms only. A Tourist Facilitation Centre can also be located within

the premises of a hotel, motel or restaurant, if adequately accessible.

viii. CABLE CAR / CHAIR LIFT

A Cable Car is a mode of transport for the recreation of tourists

located mainly between the two hill tops across a valley. While the

chair lift is open , the cable car is an enclosed / glass container with

seating for 2 to 6 persons. The car/ chair moves hanging with a cable.

ix. CAMPING SITE

Camping site is a designated area where tourist can erect tents/camps

for overnight stay. The whole area is paved and space for tents/camps

is marked on the ground . The necessary infrastructure facilities like

water, sewerage etc. are provided for common use. An adequate

space for car parking is also provided . The site area varies from 2

kanals as minimum to make it functionally viable to 10 kanals as

maximum to keep it manageable.

x. FISHING

Fishing is a sport popular at few spots in the fresh water rivers. Fishing

does not require any designated area in terms of space. However, it

stretches along the river banks and spots need to be identified which

are suitable for this activity in order to control the activity and restrict

the commercial motives.

xi. BOATING.

Boating is also a popular sport and mode of recreation. However,

appropriate measure need to be provided for safety purposes.

xii. RAFTING

Rafting is a challenging, exciting and adventurous game common is

the U.S and some European countries which is essentially played in

the rivers with very rough waters identical to the conditions prevailing

in River Kunhar in Kaghan Valley. Rafts are specially made boats of

fiber glass or light materials, small in size and meant for a single

person ride.

xiii. WINTER SPORTS

There are many winter sports played on snow. It the context of this

Master Plan winter sports mean skiing as out door sport and ice-

skating as indoor sport. Ice skating domes with adequate space and

atmosphere are proposed as a new attraction for tourists in this area.

xiv. ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES

Archeological sites are places of historic and cultural significance,

interesting for tourists and mainly consist of excavated ruins and

preserved old buildings and monuments.

xv. TRACKING

Scaling hilly areas and mountains on foot for recreation purpose is

called tracking. It is generally undertaken to enjoy nature, beauty and

flora and fauna.

8. PROPOSED TOURIST FACILITIES8. PROPOSED TOURIST FACILITIES

Various sites have potential for various types of tourist facilities

depending on the location, cultural and historical significance,

topography and natural environment. Accordingly, various types of

tourist facilities are suitable at various locations depending on the

expected usefulness of the facility. Pakistan is an Islamic country with

peculiar cultural and social background, especially the tribal values

and culture still prevail in Hazara Region. Therefore, certain tourism

facilities like bars serving liquor, discos and night life are totally non

existent nor have any prospects to flourish in near future.

Furthermore, Pakistan including its northern areas is economically a

developing nation with limited budgetary allocations to provide lavish

and extensive infrastructure facilities to offer to its people as well as

to the tourists. Hence a very realistic approach has been adopted

while making various proposals in this Master Plan. Within the above

context, the following tourist facilities have been considered for this

purpose.

i. Hotelii. Moteliii. Tourist Hosteliv. Restaurantv. Picnic Spotsvi. Roadside Facilityvii. Tourist Facilitation Centreviii. Cable Car/ Chair Liftix. Camping Sitex. Fishingxi. Boatingxii. Raftingxiii. Winter Sportsxiv. Archeological Sitesxv. Tracking

Following are the proposed locations suitable to provide the above

tourist facilities by district. The provision of these facilities in terms of

number and location have been guided mainly by the existing demand

and also the anticipated demand at the end of the next 10 years (the

plan period), when the tourist traffic is likely to increase by at least

five folds, as a result of the vigorous promotion and development

phases carried out by STC.

8.1 MALAKAND AGENCY

Malakand Agency is the gate way to the Malakand Region and is

relatively a small area.

A road from Mardan provides the most important and major vehicular

access to the Region after scaling the famous Malakand Pass. The

Malakand top offers breath taking panoramic views of the Swat canal

and its valleys. It is also the seat of the Political Agent and various

other government offices, including a hospital located at the top.

Since most of the tourists have destinations either in Swat, Dir or

Chitral, this place has no potential for a hotel, therefore no hotel is

proposed for Malakand Agency. After descending down from the top

towards north, one road goes straight into Swat valley, the other goes

right towards Thana and leads into Buner District, whereas another

road turns left into Dir after crossing River Swat at Chakdara Bridge.

This junction, is therefore an important location. A motel has been

proposed near Chakdara Bridge. A few rooms accommodation will be

sufficient to cater for the needs during the high season. This motel will

also include a restaurant. This will be in addition to few restaurants

and rest places already existing at the top of Malakand Pass. Due to

its important location as entry point to the Malakdand Region. A

Tourist Facilitation Centre is proposed to be located at the top in order

to provide a variety of guidance.

Jabban and Moora Hills are two beautiful spots located in Malakand

Agency. It is proposed to further develop them into picnic spots, with

restaurants to be located at each of them. A spot near a small ziarat

along the main road just before the Malakand top is also proposed to

be developed as picnic spot. The closed vicinity of existing restaurants

on the top does not require another restaurant here. However a road

side facility is proposed at this location. Another picnic spot is

proposed to be located at Seelai Patai being a potential location.

However, being in close vicinity to the existing settlements no other

facility is proposed.

Following is the summary of the proposed tourist facilities in Malakand

Agency, which are also shown in Table-2 and Fig. 5-A.

A. Motel : 1

i. Chakdara Bridge

B. Restaurant : 3

i. Malakand Pass

ii. Jabban

iii. Moora Hill

C. Tourist Facilitation Centre

: 1

i. Malakand Top

D. Picnic Spots :

4

i. Jabban

ii. Moora Hill

iii. Ziarat Near Top

vi. Selai Patai

E. Roadside Facility : 1

i. Ziarat near Top

TABLE-2 Proposed Tourist Facilities in Malakand Agency by

Location and Type.

Motel Restaurant Picnic

Spot

Roadside

Facilities

T.f Centre

1. Malakand

Pass

- 1 - - 1

2. Near Top - - 1 1 -

3. Chakdara

Bridge

1 - - - -

4. Jabban - 1 1 - -

5. Moora Hill

6. Selai Patai

-

-

1

-

1

1

-

-

-

-

TOTAL 1 3 4 1 1

Fig.5-A

8.2 BUNER DISTRICT

Relatively remotely located and less accessible, is the recently

established district of Buner, which was traditionally a part of the Swat

District. An all weather black-top road leads from Thana in Swat to

Daggar, the capital of Buner. Another road links it with Swabi through

totalai but is not much used for all traffic. The famous Ziarat of Haji

Baba is located closed to Daggar in the north.

Buner has a rich historic background dating back to the periods of

Alexander the Great, Buddhist era and Mughals of India. Many events

significant in the history of Malakand actually took place in Buner. The

sacred wars of Ambela by the Bare Head Saint against the British were

also fought here. The famous minister Birbal of Akbar the Great was

killed at Karapa with his 810 soldiers.

Buner is a relatively isolated area as it is located off the main trading

route of Malakand. This is one of the reasons for its neglect and poor

socio-economic conditions. However, the area is otherwise rich in

terms of scenic beauty. Mahaban valley has been recently declared as

natural area for preservation by the provincial assembly of NWFP.

Buner is accessible from the Swat through a road turning right from

Barikot. The beautiful mountain top of Karakar falls on the way to

Daggar. This place has a great deal of potential to be developed into a

picnic spot. In addition to the picnic spot a restaurant is proposed here

to cater for the needs of the tourists.

Since a large scale tourist movement is not anticipated in Buner, no

hotel is proposed to be located here. However, 2 motels are

proposed, one at Daggar and the other at an appropriate location in

Mahaban valley. These motels will also provide the restaurant

facilities.

There is another beautiful spot with good potential at a distance of

about 2 kilometer north east of Ziarat Haji Baba. A picnic spot and a

restaurant are proposed to be located here.

Buner is also accessible from south linking it with Swabi and Mardan. It

is proposed to develop only roadside facilities at 2 location; one at

Shahbaz Garhi and the other at Totalai. Though Shahbaz Garhi is not

located in Malakand Region, it has strong linkage with Buner District.

Since most tourists are expected to cross Malakand Pass to enter

Buner, the tourist facilitation centre at the pass will serve the Buner

area as well, therefore no separate facility has been proposed.

Following is the summary of the proposed tourist facilities in Buner

District, which are also shown in Table -3 and Fig 5-B.

A. Motel : 2

i. Dagger

ii. Mahaban Valley

B. Restaurants : 2

i. Karakar Top

ii. Near Ziarat

C. Picnic spots : 2

i. Karakar Top

ii. Near Ziarat

D. Roadside Facilities : 2

i. Shahbaz Garhi

ii. Totallai

Table-3: Proposed Tourist Facilities in Buner Distt. by Location and

Type of Facility

Motel Restaurants Roadside

Facilities

Picnic

Spots

1.Daggar 1 - - -

2.Mahaban valley 1 - - -

3.Karakar Top - 1 - 1

4.Near Ziarat - 1 - 1

5.Shahbaz Garhi

located in Mardan

Dist

- - 1 -

6.Totalai - - 1 -

Total 2 2 2 2

Fig.5-B

8.3 SWAT DISTRICT

Swat district is undoubted by the hub of the tourism activity in the

whole of Malakand Region as well as that of NWFP. The lush green and

picturesque valley of Swat starts from Malakand Agency to Kalam in

the north for a distance of about .... kilometers with River Swat

running almost in the centre as the main life line of the valley. While

moving north from Malakand Agency, the snow-clad peaks in the

background present awe-inspiring views. Tourists from abroad as well

as all over the country throng to the valley during all seasons of the

year.

Swat was an important cultural centre of Gandhara Civilization, the

remains of which are still found scattered at various locations in the

valley. It remained an independent state during and after the British

rule. The state hood was however, abolished during the late sixties to

become an integral part of Malakand Region.

The main road of Swat runs north-south along the river to provide

access to almost all the human settlements of the valley either

directly or through secondary roads network. Immediately, after

crossing down from Malakand Agency, the ruins of Landake and

Udegram are places of interest for the tourists. They include Buddhist

stupas and old ruins. The inscribed statue of Buddha is located near

Ghalegai. Two roadside facilities, one at Landake and the other at

Udegram are proposed to be located for short stay of the tourists

visiting these shrines. The river side here offers excellent opportunity

for picnic spots, therefore one picnic spot at Landake and the other

near Ghalegai have also been proposed.

Moving onwards, the road takes to Mingora, the biggest urban

settlement of the Region and its administrative seat. Mingora offers all

urban civic facilities including a large number of hotels, restaurants,

shopping centre and other necessary service. Saidu Sharif Airport is

located across the river and provides a direct air link with the rest of

the country. Kanju Township located near the airport is a recent

addition of decent housing area of the city. Mingora offers a variety of

hotel accommodation from a 4 star hotel to a number of 3 stars, 2

stars and single star hotels. Keeping in view the increase in demand

during the next 10 years, at least 2 more hotels are proposed to be

located at Mingora. Additionally one motel is also proposed at an

appropriate location. In order to meet a variety of demand a tourist

hostel is also proposed for Mingora. Being the centre of the tourism

activity, a tourist facilitation centre is also proposed to be located in

Mingora. A site near the bridge of the river offers an excellent

opportunity to provide a recreation park of adequate size. An

interesting recent development is the Kabal Golf course located across

the river. It is a fully planned and designed golf course of international

standard, therefore nothing new has been proposed here. The

beautiful white palace at Marghozar in another attraction in the

vicinity of Mingora, which offers both hotel and restaurant facility,

therefore no additional facility has been proposed.

Moving awards in north, a road takes off from the main road at

Manglor to the tourist resort of Malam jaba. A five star hotel and a

cable car were built few years back but have not been operational to

date due to various administrative and other reasons. The place has

already started deteriorating. There is an urgent need to resolve the

issues and commence the operation at Malam Jaba.

Khawazakhela is an important road junction as a road turns right from

here into Shangla District and links Swat Valley with Karakuram

Highway in Hazara Region. A motel with a restaurant is proposed to be

located at Khawazakhela. Madyan and Bahrain are two important

settlements on road to Kalam. Both offer hotel and restaurant facilities

to the tourists. No additional facility has been proposed for them.

Mankial however offer a great deal of potential as a resting spot. A

picnic spot with a road side facility are proposed to be located here for

short stay of the tourists between Mingora and Kalam.

After Mingora, Kalam is the most important urban settlement of Swat

valley and is also the destination of most tourists visiting the valley.

This Master Plan proposes Kalam to be developed as the future centre

of the tourist activity in the entire Swat valley. Kalam has the potential

to be development as tourist resort at the national level. Special

consideration has therefore been made in case of Kalam. The

recommendations include the development of at least 4 more

hotels ,one tourist hostel, one motel and one tourist facilitation centre.

A camping ground of adequate size at an appropriate location, fishing

in river Swat a picnic spot and a sports complex for winter sports are

other special developments proposed for Kalam. The Natural

environment of Kalam and the surrounding area offers excellent

tracking opportunities. Three tracking routes have been proposed for

this purpose; one from Kalam to Mahodand. second from Uthrore to

Kandalodand and the third one from Uthrore to Dir.

From Kalam two roads lead in different directions. One in the north-

east direction take to the beautiful Mahodand Lake via Ushu and

Matiltan. The other in the north-west direction to Kandalodand lake via

Uthrore. In the north-east direction, a restaurant is proposed to be

located at Usho and another one at Mahodand lake to cater for the

needs of the visitors. In the north-west direction, a motel is proposed

to be located at Uthrore to provide limited facility for night stay. A

restaurant is also proposed to be located. A special feature of the

proposed development is a cable car service between Uthrore and Dir

across the mountain range. A fishing facility is also proposed to be

located at Uthrore.

Following is the summary of the proposed tourism facilities in Swat

District, which are also shown in Table-4 and Fig.5-C.

A. Hotels : 6

i. Mingora (2)

ii. Kalam (4)

B. Motels : 4

i. Mingora

ii. Kalam

iii. Khawazakhela

iv. Uthrore

C. Tourist Hostel : 2

i. Mingora

ii. Kalam

D. Restaurants : 3

i. Usho

ii. Mahodand

iii. Kandalodand

E. Picnic Spot : 4

i. Kalam

ii. Landake

iii. Mankial

iv. Ghalegai

F. Roadside Facility : 4

i. Udegram

ii. Landake

iii. Gokdara

iv. Mankial

G. Recreation Park : 1

i. Mingora

H. Tourist Facilitation Centre :

2

i. Mingora

ii. Kalam

I. Cable Car : 2

i. Uthrore

ii. Malam Jaba

J. Camping Ground : 1

i. Kalam

K. Winter Sports : 2

i. Kalam

ii. Malam Jaba

L. Fishing : 2

i. Kalam

ii. Uthrore

M. Tracking : 3

i. Kalam

ii. Uthrore

iii. Kandalodand

Table-: 4. Proposed Tourist Facilities in Swat Distt. by Location and Type of Facility

Hot

el

Motel Tourist

Hostel

Rest

a-

uran

t

RSF Picni

c

Spot

Rec

.Pa

rk

TFC Cabl

e

Car

C.Gr

ound

W.Sp

orts

Fish

-ing

Tra-

ckin

g

Mingora 2 1 1 - - - 1 1 - - - - -

Kalam 4 1 1 - - 1 - 1 - 1 1 1 1

Khawazakh

el

- 1 - - - - - - - - - - -

Uthrore - 1 - - - - - - 1 - - 1 1

usho - - - 1 - - - - - - - - -

Mahodand - - - 1 - - - - - - - - -

Kandaloda

nd

- - - 1 - - - - - - - - 1

Landake - - - - 1 1 - - - - - - -

Udegram - - - - 1 - - - - - - - -

Gokdara - - - - 1 - - - - - - - -

Mankial - - - - 1 1 - - - - - - -

Ghalegai - - - - - 1 - - - - - - -

Malam

Jaba

- - - - - - - - 1 - 1 - -

Total 6 4 2 3 4 4 1 2 2 1 2 2 3

Fig- 5-C

8.4 SHANGLA DISTRICT

Shangla is a relatively small district which has recently been

separated from Swat District. It is however an important district of

Malakand Region as, it links two important valley and trading routes of

national and international importance through Karakuram Highway

(KKH).With Alpuri as its capital, Shangla extends on both sides of the

road linking Khawazakhala in Swat valley and Besham along KKH.

Shangla Top is a beautiful place with considerable snow fall during

winter and cool breeze blowing during the remaining of the year.

Besham is actually located at a distance of not more than 2 hours of

descend from the Top. A large variety of transit facilities to the

tourists travelling on KKH are already provided at Besham, including

hotels, motels , restaurants and shopping areas. Therefore, no such

additional facility is proposed for Besham. However, a picnic spot and

a the restaurant is proposed to be located at the Top to cater for the

needs of the tourists stopping for a short while to enjoy the scenic

beauty of the surrounding area. Following facilities are proposed for

Shangla District which are also shown in Table-5 and Fig. 5-D.

A. Restaurant : 1

i. Shangla Top

B. Picnic Spot : 1

i. Shangla Top

Table -5:- Proposed Tourist Facilities in Shangla District by Location

and Type of Facility.

Restaurant Picnic Spot

i. Shangla Top 1 1

Total 1 1

Fig- 5-D

8.5 LOWER AND UPPER DIR DISTRICTS

Like other areas of Malakand Agency, Dir also has as important and

rich cultural and historic background dating back to the period of

Alexander the Great. While a Wali was ruling in Swat the ruler of Dir

was called a Nawab Who gained power before the British arrived in

this area.

After the abolishing of the state, Dir was established as a District

which has been very recently divided into lower Dir and Upper Dir.

Lower Dir extends from chakdara to Timergarah, whereas the

remaining part is included in Upper Dir.

Dir is accessible from Malakand Agency by a main road which leads to

Chitral after crossing the famous Loweri Pass . This main road at

Chakdara goes straight into Swat Valley and also turns left into Dir

after crossing River Swat at Chakdara.

Located close to Chakdara bridge overlooking Swat Valley from top of

a hill is the Churchill Picket. A post used by Sir Winston Churchill who

later become the British Prime Minister during World War-II, to report

on the Malakand Wars during the early years of his earner as news

reporter. Old ruins dating back in history are also located close to the

picket. Chakdara Museum and Chakdara Fort are other important

places at the small market town of Chakdara. Sir John Marshal was the

first archeologist who started excavations in and around this area and

unearthed many historic ruins and collected a large number of various

relics. Chak pat (chatpat) , and Noor Mahal at Uch Sharif are other

significate historic places. Keeping in view the facilities already

proposed in the vicinity and being the gateway to Dir and Chitral, a

Tourist Facilitation Centre is proposed to be located at Chakdara.

A road takes off after Chakdara towards Laram Sar, a beautiful spot

located on the top of the mountain separating Dir from Swat at this

place. Laram Sar has a great deal of potential to be developed as a

tourist attraction. It is proposed to develop Laram Sar into a picnic

spot and a motel is proposed here for this purpose. This motel will

include a restaurant. A cable car has also been proposed for Laram

Sar as a special tourist attraction.

Moving onwards to Timargarah after Talash a road takes off towards

left leading to the Bajaur Agency . A bridge has been provided here to

cross the river. A restaurant is proposed to be located here as a

decent eating and resting stop. Barcharai Top is also a beautiful and

attracting spot identified in the vicinity . It is proposed to locate a

motel and a picnic spot here.

Timergarah is the capital of lower Dir District and an important urban

settlement on the main Dir- Chitral Road. It also acts as transit stop

for the tourist traffic moving on this road. A number of substandard

tourist facilities already exist here. It is proposed to located a hotel, a

motel and a Tourist Facilitation Centre at Temirgarah to provide up to

standard and decent tourist services here.

A number of narrow but beautiful Valleys (Darras) are located in the

vicinity of Timergarah and between Timergarah and Dir proper. They

include Nehag Darra, Usherai Darra, Karo Darra and Toremang Darra

and Sheringal Darra. Sheringal is the largest and most beautiful of

them with Kumrat as an exceptionally beautiful place with extremely

cold climate. It is proposed to exploit and expose the enormous tourist

potential of these Valleys by providing a wide range if facilities here.

Picnic spots are proposed at appropriate and most suitable location in

Nehag Dara, Usherai Dara, Karo Dara Toremang Darra and Sheringal

Valley. In order to further strengthen the activity, restaurant are also

proposed to be located at Nahag Dara, Usherai Dara, and Kumrat in

Sheringal Valley . A motel is also proposed in Sheringal Valley most

probably at Kumrat. Taking into consideration the great deal to

potential of Sheringal valley, a camping ground is also proposed to be

located at an appropriate place. A cable car and skiing facility at

Kumrat are special proposed features.

Opposite of Sheringal valley, a road leads to the west into the

beautiful Barawal valley. It is proposed to also develop this valley as a

tourist attraction as Benshahi is a special point of interest for natural

beauty and beautiful scenery. It is proposed to develop two picnic

spots, one at a suitable place in Barawal and another at Benshahi with

restaurants at both location. Benshahi is also suitable for a cable car

or chair lift as added tourist attraction. A camping ground is also

proposed to be located at Benshahi to further enhance the proposed

tourist facilities.

Dir Town is the next important urban settlement after Timergarah on

the main Dir-Chitral Road. It has also been the seat of the

administration for Dir state and than for the Dir District for many

years. Now it is the capital of the Upper Dir District. Many tourist

facilities already exist in the city including hotels and restaurants. Tour

operators and, tour guides are also available. People hire jeeps from

here cross to Lowari Top to enter into Chitral. In order to strengthen

the existing facilities and to meet the future demand a hotel is

proposed to be located at Dir. Being the last important urban

settlement on route to Chitral and first one on the way back, a Tourist

Facilitation Centre is also proposed to be located here.

Gujar Post is the last human settlement en route to Chitral at the very

start of the Lowari Pass. Vehicles are normally stopped here to move

in coneys for safety purpose. A road side facility is proposed to be

located here to cater for the tourists during their short stay.

Lowari Top is an exciting transit point after a long and difficult journey

from Dir . Most tourists like to stop here for a while, relax and enjoy

the far and wide scenery. A make shift tent tea stall is presently

serving the tourists. It is proposed to provide an appropriate facility

like a restaurant here to cater for the tourists. One special feature of

the proposals made for Dir Districts is a Cable Car across the Lowari

Top to provide access to Chitral all year long. The feasibility of such a

facility need to be undertaken in details as a separate project

component.

In addition to the above proposed tourist facilities, the location,

topography and the natural environment is also suitable to provide

many tracking routes. One of them is proposed from Sheringal valley

in Dir to Uthrore in Swat and one from Kumrat to Chitral.

Following is the summary of the proposed tourist facilities in Dir, which

are also shown in Table-6 and Fig 5-E.

A. Hotels

: 2

i. Timergarah

ii. Dir

B. Motels

: 4

i. Laram Sar

ii. Barcharai Top

iii. Timergarah

iv. Kumrat

C. Restaurant

: 7

i. Talash

ii. Nehag Darra

iii. Usherai Darra

iv. Kumrat

v. Barawal

vi. Benshahi

vii. Lowari Top

D. Picnic Spot

: 9

i. Laram Sar

ii. Barcharai Top

iii. Nehag Darra

iv. Usherai Darra

v. Karo Darra

vii. Sheringal Valley

viii. Barawal

ix. Benshahi

E. Tourist Facilitation Centre

: 3

i. Chakdara

ii. Timergrah

iii. Dir

F. Roadside Facility

: 1

i. Gujar Post

G. Camping Ground

: 2

i. Shernigal Valley

ii. Benshahi

H. Cable Car

: 4

i. Laram Sar

ii. Kumrat

iii. Benshahi

iv. Lowari Top

I. Winter Sports

: 1

i. Kumrat

J. Tracking

: 2

i. Sheringal

ii. Kumrat

Table -6:- Proposed Tourist Facilities in Lower and Upper Dir Districts by Location and

Type of Facility.

Hotel Motel Restau

-rant

RSF Picnic

spot

TFC Cable

car

Campin

g

Trac-

king

W.sports

Timargarah 1 1 - - - 1 - - - -

Dir 1 1 - - - 1 - - - -

Talash - - 1 - - - - - - -

Nehag Dara - - 1 - 1 - - - - -

Usherai Dara - - 1 - 1 - - - - -

Sheringal - 1 - - 1 - - 1 2 -

Kumrat - - 1 - - - 1 - 1 1

Karo Dara - - - - 1 - - - - -

Barawal - - 1 - 1 - - - - -

Ben Shahi - - 1 - 1 - 1 1 - -

Gujar Post - - - 1 - - - - -

Barcharai Top - 1 - - 1 - - - - -

Chakdara - - - - - 1 - - - -

Laram Sar - 1 - - - - 1 - - -

Lowari Top - - 1 - - - - - - -

TOTAL 2 5 7 1 7 3 3 2 3 1

Fig- 5-E

8.6 CHITRAL DISTRICT

Located among one the highest mountain ranges of the world, Chitral

is perhaps the remotest district of Pakistan, which remains in-

accessible by surface for almost six months of the year. The relatively

difficult accessibility has kept it isolated for many countries.

Consequently the culture and social traits have witnessed little change

from the ancient times. The district is accessible from three routes;

firstly from Dir after crossing the Lowari Pass, secondly from Gilgit

through Shandoor Pass and thirdly from Afghanistan through Arandu.

All three routes are physically difficult passages. There are additional

and less used routes into and out of Chitral through as many as 62

passes (Darras). The first three have vehicular access, where for all

other routes , people travel on foot using mules to carry luggage and

goods.

Like Swat and Dir, Chitral was also a state till recently . While Swat

was ruled by a Wali and Dir was ruled by a Nawab, Chitral was ruled

by a Mehtar.

Chitral has an interesting history. It is said that Alexander the Great

conquered this territory and left a contingent of his Greek Army here.

The decedents of Greek origin are said to still occupy three narrow

valleys of Chitral known as Kalash or Kafirisitan. Their religion is

different than all other know religions . Kafirs, have a totally difficult

culture and society . The difficult access to these valleys and a

complete isolation have kept them living in a time capsule . The

western world discovered about them after the publishing of a book in

the late sixties, soon after which these valleys because one of the

main tourist attractions for foreign as well as domestic tourists.

The package of tourist facilities proposed for Chitral includes a variety

of facilities based on the potential and demand of each location.

After crossing into Chitral from Lowari Top the road makes a steep

descend and the zig zag road makes as many as 42 turns. This is a

suitable place to provide a Cable Car all the way upto a place called

Ziarat

Drosh is the first major settlement on way to Chitral . A number of

restaurants are located here but are mostly sub standards . A good

quality restaurant is proposed to be developed at Drosh to cater for

the tourists travelling on this route. Ayun is the next important

settlement along the main road. River Chitral, the gardens, bridge and

the settlement of Ayun provide the natural setting suitable for a picnic

spot at Ayun is also important being the gateway to the three valleys

of Kafristan. After crossing the bridge on River Chitral at Ayun and

passing through the settlement of Ayun, a narrow passage leads into

the valleys of Bhumburat and Rumbur. A number of small hotels

already exist in these valleys, however, keeping in view an increase in

the tourist traffic and demand, one motel in Bhamburat and one in

Rumbur have been proposed.

Chitral city is next after Ayun. The city is the capital of the district and

also the biggest urban settlement . A large number of tourist facilities

exist here. In order to meet the future demand, it is proposed to

provide at least three hotels one motel and one tourist hostel in

Chitral. A camping ground will provide a variety of accommodation

and will further supplement the provision . A Tourist Facilities Centre is

also proposed to be located here to provide necessary assistance to

the tourists . Tracking of Trichmir is a potential attraction for tourists,

which needs to be further developed.

After crossing Chitral city, a road on left side inters in a narrow valley

with high steep and straight mountains on both sides leads to another

tourist attraction of Garam Chashma (Hot Springs). On way to Garam

Chashma one finds beautiful spots on cross-valleys at Shoghor and

Mounio. Roadside Facilities have been proposed at both locations.

Garam Chashma is a green area with pleasant atmosphere. It is

proposed to develop a picnic spot and a restaurant at Garam

Chashma. The Garam Chashma road leads to Gobor Bakh, a pass to

cross into Badakhshan province of Afghanistan. The pass is used by a

significate number of travellers to cross into Afghanistan. A restaurant

is proposed to be located here to cater for the needs of the travellers.

The Chitral-Garam Chashma-Gobor Bakh route has an important role

to play in future after becoming an access to the Central Asian States

through Afghanistan. The proposal is already under consideration of

the Government of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajkistan.

Moving north from Chitral, Koghuzi, Reshun and Sarghoz are the major

settlements along the main road. Road side facilities are proposed at

each one of them. Buni is the next major settlement after Chitral.

Keeping in view the long journey from Chitral, it is proposed to locate

a hotel at Buni. Being a transit point, no other facility is proposed for

Buni. Bernis is a small settlement located on the junction along the

road between Buni and Mastuj. Most commuters stop here for a cup of

tea. A restaurant is proposed to be located here to provide quality

service.

Mastuj is perhaps the last major settlement on this road. At least two

hotels and a motel are proposed to be located at Mastuj. A Tourist

Facilitation Centre is also proposed to be provided here to cater for

the travellers between Chitral and Gilgit. This centre is also

anticipated to play an important role during the world famous

Shandoor polo Festival.

The narrow Laspur valley runs in south-east direction from Mastuj

which leads to Gilgit Agency after crossing the famous Shandoor Pass.

Harchin is a small settlement located almost in the centre of the valley

and has a great deal of potential for development. A hotel is proposed

to be provided here to carter for the needs of the travellers during the

normal season and for the tourists during the Shandoor Festival. A

road side facility is proposed at or close to Laspur, located the end of

the Laspur Valley before ascending to Shandoor Pass.

A vast plateau at the Shandoor Top and the Shandoor Lake provide a

beautiful, majestic and mystical natural environment. A polo festival is

held here every year during the month of March or April. This is known

to be the highest polo ground in the world. Tourists and dignitaries

from all over the world come to attend this week long festival. A

camping ground is proposed to be located close to the lake to provide

accommodation to the tourists during and off- the festival period. The

pass is also a popular tracking routes which needs to be further

planned and developed

Following is the summary of the tourist facilities proposed in Chitral

District, which are also shown is Table-7 and Fig. 5-F.

A. Hotels :

7

i. Chitral (3)

ii. Buni

iii. Mastuj (2)

iv. Harchin

B. Motel : 4

i. Bhumburat

ii. Rambur

iii. Chitral

iv. Mastuj

C. Restaurants :

4

i. Drosh

ii. Garam Chashma

iii. Gobor Bakh

iv. Bernis

D. Picnic Spot : 2

i. Ayun

ii. Garam Chashma

E. Tourist Hostel : 1

i. Chitral

F. T.F.C : 2

i. Chitral

G. Camping Ground : 2

i. Chitral

ii. Shandoor

H. Roadside Facilities :

6

i. Shoghor

ii. Mounio

iii. Koghuzi

iv. Reshun

v. Sarghoz

vi. Laspur

I. Tracking : 2

i. Shandoor

ii. Trichmir

Table -7:- Proposed Tourist Facilities in Chitral Districts by Location and Type of Facility.

Hotel Motel Restaurant RSF Picnic Spot TFC Cable car Camping

Chitral 3 1 - - - 1 - 1

Buni 1 - - - - - - -

Mastuj 2 1 - - - 1 - -

Harchin 1 - - - - - - -

Bumburat - 1 - - - - - -

Rumbur - 1 - - - - - -

Drosh - - 1 - - - - -

Garam

Chashma

- - 1 - 1 - - -

Gobor - - 1 - - - - -

Bernis - - 1 - - - - -

Shonoghor - - - 1 - - - -

Monri - - - 1 - - - -

Koghoozi - - - 1 - - - -

Reshun - - - 1 - - - -

Sarghoz - - - 1 - - - -

Sor Laspur - - - 1 - - - -

Ayun - - - - 1 - - -

Lowari Top - - - - - - 1 -

Shandoor - - - - - - - 1

TOTAL 7 4 4 6 2 2 1 2

Fig-5-F

9.PROPOSED INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS9.PROPOSED INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS

The experience has revealed the fact that rational development is

necessarily based on integrated development. Development of a

particular sector needs a great deal of integration with the

development in a number of other sectors. Similarly, tourism

development can not be achieved in isolation and separation from

sectors including transportation and other basic urban services. A

tourism attraction with a great deal of potential is useless if not

accessible to the tourists, and same is the case with other basic urban

services like availability of drinking water, adequate sewerage

system, electricity, telephone etc.

With an aim to make this Master Plan more comprehensive and

practical, the existing infrastructure facilities have been assessed in

order to identify the deficiencies within the context of the proposals

made for the development of various tourism facilities in the previous

chapter. These proposed infrastructure facilities are also shown in

Fig.6-A, B, C, D, E and Fig.6-F at the end of this chapter.

9.1 ROADS

9.1.1Malakand Agency

The main Malakand road linking Swat, Dir and Chitral with rest of the

country passes through Malakand Agency which acts as gateway to

the whole area. Most of the proposed tourism facilities are either

located along the main road or are easily accessible to it. However,

the road to the proposed picnic spot and restaurant at Moora Hill and

another to the archeological site of Palai need improvement and

upgrading to serve the future tourists. Therefore, the proposed road

projects in Malakand Agency are as follows:

A. Road Improvement Projects

i. Main Road to Moora Hill

ii. Main Road to Palai

B. New Road Projects

Nil

9.1.2 Buner District

Buner District is also linked with the main road by another regional

road serving the district itself. Daggar is located at this road. Another

road leads to Ziarat Pir Baba Sahib in the north and is also a good

quality road. However, the section linking Ziarat to the proposed Picnic

Spot further north at a distance of about 2 kilometers needs

improvement. Similarly the road coming from Mardan via Shahbaz

Garhi and Totalai also needs improvement.

Mahaban valley is presently not accessible through a good quality

road. A new road section is proposed to make it accessible to the

tourists. The roads to the archeological sites of Ambela and Karapa

also need to be improved.

The proposed road projects in Buner are as follows:

A. Road Improvement Projects

i. Ziarat Haji Baba to proposed picnic spot

ii. Shahbaz Garhi- Totalai to Daggar

iii. Daggar to Ambela

iv. Daggar to Karapa

B. New Road Projects

i. Daggar to Mahaban Valley

9.1.3Swat District

The main valley road links Swat District with the rest of the country

through Malakand Pass. The road also provides direct access to most

of the tourist facilities both existing and planned. River Swat is

crossed at Mingora only through a bridge to link Saidu Sharif Airport

with city and also provide access to the Kabal golf course and hotel

complex. Another good quality road links Saidu Sharif with Marghozar.

However, the road linking Malam Jabba with the main road at

Manglour needs upgrading into a double lane single carriage.

The main Swat Road terminates at Kalam. The two roads, one linking

Kalam with Mahudand via Ushu and Matiltan and the other linking

Kalam with Kandalodand via Uthrore needs improvement and

upgrading.

The road projects proposed in Swat are as follows:

A. Road Improvement Projects

i. Manglour to Malam Jaba

ii. Kalam to Mahudand

iii. Kalam to Kandalodand

B. New Road Projects

Nil

9.1.4Shangla District

Shangla district is presently served by one main road only running

east-west and linking the two valleys of Swat at Khawazakhela and

Kohistan at Besham across the Shangla. The road needs considerable

amount of improvement and upgrading work to play a vital

communication role in future for the tourist movement in both Hazara

and Malakand Regions.

Therefore, the proposed road projects for Shangla are as follows:

A. Road Improvement Projects

i. Khawazakhela to Besham

B. New Road Projects

Nil

9.1.5Lower & Upper Dir Districts

Dir District are relatively behind other districts in the provision in

terms of adequate road network. Other than the main Dir-Chitral

Road, there are few roads providing access to the remote areas.

Taking into account the proposed tourism facilities, a new road is

required to provide adequate access to Laram Sar. Additionally, new

roads need to be built in Nehag Dara, Usherai Dara and Karo Dara and

Toremang Darra Top. There is need to provide adequate road link in

Barawal valley including Benshahi. A motel and other tourist facilities

to be located at Barcharai Top also need better communication

through road linkage.

The most important road link in Malakand Division is perhaps that of

Lowari Pass. This road remains closed for almost 6 months a year

due to snow fall and bad weather. A number of studies have been

carried out and considered at national and international level to find

out alternate routes/solutions. The work on Lowari Tunnel commenced

few years ago but the work was stopped after the completion of some

length of it and was never resumed. A alternate route is being

explored now and the feasibility studies are already in progress.

The proposed road projects in Dir Districts are as follows:

A. Road Improvement Projects

Nil

B. New Road Projects

i. Main Road to Laram Sar

ii. Main Road to Nehag Dara

iii. Main Road to Usherai Dara

iv. Main Road to Karo Dara

v. Main Road to Barcharai Top

vi. Main Road to Toremang Dara

vii. Main Road to Benshahi in Barawal valley

9.1.6Chitral District

Chitral is also served by a single major road providing access to most

of the settlements in the district. The good quality black top read till

recently existed upto Chitral only. However, the section from Chitral to

Bunni in the north have now been upgraded. This road needs to be

extended upto Mastuj and on word upto Shandoor.

The Garam Chashma road in west also needs to be upgraded upto

Gobor Bakh. The road from Ayun leading into the Kalash valley of

Bamburat and Rambur also need a great deal of improvement and

upgrading works.

The road projects proposed for Chitral are as follows:

A. Road Improvement Projects

i. Buni to Mastuj

ii. Mastuj to Shandoor

iii. Chitral to Garam Chashma to Gobor Bakh

iv. Ayun to Bamburat and Rambour

B. New Road Projects

Nil

9.2 WATER SUPPLY

9.2.1Malakand Agency

Water is already supplied to almost all the locations proposed as

tourism facilities. However, local water supply schemes are required at

Moora Hill and the archeological site of Palai to cater for the short

visits of tourists.

The details are as follows:

A. New Water Supply Schemes

i. Moora Hill

ii. Palai

B. Water Supply Improvement Schemes

Nil

9.2.2Buner District

Adequate water supply already exists in all the major settlement of

Buner District. However, local schemes need to be developed at

Karakar Pass, the proposed picnic spot 2 kilometers away from Ziarat

Pir Baba and Mahaban Valley.

The details are as follows:

A. New Water Supply Schemes

i. Karakar Pass

ii. Picnic Spot near Ziarat Haji Baba

iii. Mahaban Valley

B. Water Supply Improvement Schemes

Nil

9.2.3Swat District

A careful analysis of the existing conditions with regard to the

proposed tourist facilities has lead to the concision that no water

supply scheme is required in Swat except Usho, Mahodand, Uthrore

and Kandalodand, as follows.

A. New Water Supply Schemes

i. Usho

ii. Mahodand

iii. Uthrore

iv. Kandalodand

B. Water Supply Improvement Schemes

Nil

9.2.4Shangla District

Shangla Top is the only location where tourist facilities have been

proposed. There is no formal water supply system existing at the top.

The water supply projects for Shangla District are proposed as follows:

A. New Water Supply Projects

i. Shangla Top

B. Water Supply Improvement Projects

Nil

9.2.5Dir District

Considering he existing settlement pattern and the location of the

proposed tourist facilities, following sites have been identified where

proper water supply schemes will be required.

A. New Water Supply Schemes

i. Laram Sar

ii. Barcharai Top

iii. Sharingal Valley

iv. Nehag Darra

v. Osherai Darra

vi. Karo Dara

vii. Toremang Dara

viii. Barawal Valley

B. Water Supply Improvement Scheme

Nil

9.2.6Chitral District

Almost all the locations in Chitral where tourism facilities have been

proposed are situated in or close to the existing settlements, where

water is available in one form or the other. Therefore no water supply

projects have been proposed for Chitral.

9.3 SEWERAGE

Sewerage is an important aspect of human habitation. It is an

essential service for general cleanliness and healthy environment. The

only Urban settlement of significate size is Mingora, the headquarter

of the Malakand Region. The sewerage system in Mingora is already

going through a major improvement under the second Urban

Development Project (SUDP) which is funded by the urban

Development Bank. All other settlements in Malakand Region are

relatively small in size, generating small quantities of domestic and

commercial sewerage only, which do not pore serious sanitation

problem. Besides, almost all settlements are located in a hilly terrain

close of water courses available for quick sewerage disposal.

Therefore no sewerage scheme is proposed for locations where tourist

facilities are proposed to be located.

9.4 SOLID WASTE COLLECTION AND DISPOSAL

Solid waste collection and disposal is the most neglected aspect of the

civic life in the Region. The system has been provided to few major

settlements only and that also is extremely in efficient in terms of

coverage and level of service. All human settlements in the Region

invariably need to be included in this programme whether system

already exists and new arrangements need to be made. Therefore

adequate garbage collection and disposal system need to be provided

at all the locations in Malakand Region where the tourism facilities

have been proposed.

9.5 ELECTRICITY

Electricity has now become a basic necessity rather a sign of life. It is

required mainly where tourist accommodations for an overnight stay

have been proposed in the Master Plan. They include hotels, motels

and tourist hostels. Electricity is also required where the restaurants

have been proposed to be located.

There are mainly three sources from which the electricity is provided

in the Malakand Region. Firstly, through WAPDA grid network,

secondly from the small hydel power projects and thirdly small

thermal power plants operated by petrol or diesel.

9.5.1Malakand Agency

Electricity is provided in Malakand Agency by WAPDA, to almost all the

places where tourism facilities have been proposed, therefore no new

electrification project is proposed for Malakand Agency.

9.5.2Buner District

Buner is also connected to the Wapda network. However, the following

location will need to be provided with this facility.

i. Mahaban Valley

ii. Picnic spot north of Ziarat Haji Baba.

9.5.3Swat District

Swat is the most developed district in Malakand Region in terms of

electricity supply. Most of the places in Swat are enjoying this facility.

However, considering the proposed tourism facilities the following

location should be provided with this facility:

i. Usho Valley upto Malakand

ii. Athrore Valley upto Kandalodand

9.5.4Shangla District

The only tourist facility in Shangla District is proposed to be located at

the Top, where no electricity is available, therefore the requirement in

Shangla District is as follows:

i. Shangla Top

9.5.5Lower & Upper Dir Districts

The districts of Dir have been relatively not very lucky as the

development have been mainly concentrated on the settlements

located along the main Dir-Chitral Road. Electricity is made available

mostly to these settlements. However, the following locations where

tourism facilities have been provided need to be served by this

facility:

i. Laram Sar

ii. Barcharai Top

iii. Nehag Dara

iv. Usherai Dara

v. Karo Dara

vi. Toremang Dara

vii. Sheringal Valley

viii. Barawal Valley

ix. Benshahi

9.5.6Chitral District

Most of the settlements located along the main Chitral Road have

electricity either from WAPDA, small hydle projects or by diesel

generators in the private sector. However, the following locations

where tourism facilities have been proposed need to be provided with

this facility.

i. Kalash Valleys of Bumburat and Birir

ii. Garam Chashma

iii. Buni

iv. Mastuj

v. Harchin in Laspur Valley

9.6 TELEPHONE

Once a luxury, telephone has become a necessity of modern life. It

become more important if considered in the context of the modern

technologies available at the turn of the century. It not the foreign

tourists, but the domestic tourists certainly like to stay in touch with

their families, friends and business concerns. The difficult accessibility

to some parts of the Region makes at even more essential a service.

9.6.1Malakand Agency

Malakand Agency is well convected by telephone with the rest of the

country, therefore no additional facility has been proposed.

9.6.2Buner District

A single line telephone exchange occupying a single room is located in

Daggar. This facility needs to be upgraded into a multi lane exchange

in order to facilitate the local population as well as the visitors.

9.6.3Swat District

Mingora is convected with the Nation wide Dialing (NWD) network and

most of the other settlements are convected to the rest of the country

through Mingora. However, keeping in view the further role of Kalam

in the tourism sector, it is proposed to located another (NWD)

telephone exchange at Kalam to connected the far away places like

Usho, Matiltan and Uthrore with Kalam.

9.6.4Shangla District

Keeping in view the limited tourism facilities proposed in Shangla, no

telephone facility has been proposed for Shangla District.

9.6.5Lower & Upper Dir Districts

Main telephone facilities presently are available at Timergarah and

Dir, however, both of them need considerable upgrading and

expansion in view of the future tourist traffic in the area.

It is further proposed to extend the facility to Kumrat is Sheringal

Valley and to Ben Shahi in Barawal Valley.

9.6.6Chitral District

Chitral is also linked by the NWD system with the rest of the country.

However, the facility needs to be extended to Garam Chashma, Buni

and Mastuj.

Fig- 6-A

Fig- 6-B

Fig- 6-C

Fig- 6-D

Fig- 6-E

Fig- 6-F

10. PROPOSED CIVIC AMENITIES10. PROPOSED CIVIC AMENITIES

Civic amenities essential for tourism activities include appropriate

security arrangements (police), post offices, Health Facilities, Banks

and shopping area. Each one of them has been discussed and

proposed as under, and shown in Fig 7- A, B, C, D, E, and F, at the end

of this chapter.

10.1 POLICE

Security to the life and belongings of the tourists is one of the most

important factor for the promotion and development of tourism in any

area. Police presence is essential as a curative as well as preventive

measure. The mere presence of police personnel may avert many

untoward incidents.

There are both relatively safe and relatively unsafe areas in Malakand

Region. The areas along the main traffic routes are normally safe.

Areas already established as tourism area, where tourist traffic is

more are also considered to be safe. Swat and Chitral are generally

considered to be safe. However, nothing is certain in this regard as

some well known incidents have taken place recently at very well

known places. They include indiscriminate firing on visitors to Malam

Jaba, kidnapping and rape of women relatives of the D.C Swat at

Kalam and booting of 4 flying coaches as Lowari Top. All these

happened during 1996. Therefore, there is strong need to strengthen

the prevailing securing arrangements and to adopt additional

measures in this regard. following are the proposed locations where

enhanced security arrangements are required in Malakand Region.

i. Karakar Top-Buner

ii. Mahaban - Buner

iii. Malam Jaba

iv. Kalam

v. Mahodand

vi. Uthrore

vii. Kandalodand

viii. Laram Sar- Dir

ix. Barcharai Top

x. Sheringal Valley

xi. Nehag Dara, Usherai Dara, Karo Dara, and Toremang Dara- Dir

xii. Barawal Valley

xiii. Gujar Post- Dir

xiv. Garam Chashma- Chitral

xv. Mastuj

xvi. Laspur Valley- Chitral

10.2 POST OFFICES

The whole of Malakand Region is very well served by the postal

services , including the remote area. Keeping in view the existing

coverage of area, level of service and the future needs, no additional

facilities have been proposed for the area.

10.3 HEALTH FACILITIES.

Availability of emergency health care facility in time is another

essential requirement for tourism activity . A number of health

facilities of varying levels both in public and private sectors are

available in the Region, ranging from the Districts Headquarter

Hospitals to Basic Health Units (BHU) and Rural Health Centre (RHC).

However, additional health facilities are proposed for the following

locations.

i. Mahaban -Buner

ii. Usho- Mahodand

iii. Athrore- Kandolodand

iv. Sheringal Valley- Dir

v. Barawal Valley- Dir

vi. Mastuj- Chitral

vii. Laspur Valley- Chitral

10.4 BANKS

The availability of banking services are another essential requirement

for tourist to exchange the foreign currency, to encase the travellers

cheque and transfer money in case of the need of extra cash.

Various commercial banks are located in almost all the important

towns and settlements both in urban as well as rural areas.

Additionally some standard hotels also provide this facility, therefore

no additional facilities have been proposed in this regard.

10.5 SHOPPING AREAS.

Two types of shopping are done by the tourists. Firstly, the shopping

of personal items of daily use including toiletries and eatables.

Secondly, tourists like to shop around the souvenirs reflecting the local

culture, customs and traditions. They mainly include the handicrafts

manufactured locally. The shopping areas of reasonable quality and

variety exist in almost all the major settlements of the division.

Additionally, few shops also exist in the shopping arcades of standard

hotels. Therefore no additional facility has been proposed in this

regard.

Fig- 7-A

Fig- 7-B

Fig- 7-C

Fig- 7-D

Fig- 7-E

Fig- 7-F

11. TRANSPORTATIONTRANSPORTATION

While the other tourism and tourism related facilities are more

site/location specific, transportation generally and mostly is

considered in a much wider context at national, regional and local

basis. It is therefore studied, analyzed and proposed as a separate

sector of activity.

Transportation in general can be divided into three categories for the

area under study.

- By air

- By rail

- By road

11.1.AIR TRANSPORT

There are two airports for regular commercial flights located in

Malakand Region. The Saidu Sharif Airport located at Mingora

services, the Malakand Agency, Buner District, Swat District, Shangla

Districts, and also the Dir Valley. The other airport located at Chitral

mainly serves the entire Chitral District. While, the flights operating to

and from Saidu Sharif airport operate regularly, it is not so in case of

flights to Chitral. Through, there is a daily flight to Chitral from

Peshawar, it heavily depends or the whether condition throughout its

flight path, therefore, the flights to Chitral are extremely irregular and

uncertain. Air traffic in general and tourist traffic in particular is badly

affected due to this reason. The air link becomes more important

when the road link is disconnected due to the heavy snow fall on

Lowari Top and the subsequent land slides. On average the road link

stay disconnected for almost 6 months a year.

Most of the tourists desperately wishing to visit Chitral and having

very limited vacation time can not afford to keep waiting for a flight to

operate, and therefore have to cancel there programme to visit

Chitral.

11.2 RAIL TRANSPORT

Pakistan Railways has a line extended from Nowshera and Mardan to

Dargai in Malakand Agency. The difficult mountainous terrain of the

rest of the Region does not allow to built a line economically.

Therefore, the rail link does not play a significant role in the

transportation of goods and people in Malakand Region.

11.3 ROAD TRANSPORT

There are commonly two sectors of transport by road, which are as

follows.

a) Private transport

b) Public transport

Various modes of transport available in the region are as follows.

i) Buses

Buses operate all along the main Malakand Road from Malakand in the

south upto Kalam in the north in Swat Valley. Bus service is also

available from Malakand to Timergarah in Dir. Other modes of

transport are used in the remaining areas of the Region.

ii) Flying Coaches

18 to 20 seater flying coaches also operate from Malakand to Kalam

and to Dir. They also operate to Dagger in Buner, Khawazakhela to

Alpuri and Besham in Shangla. Flying coach also operate from Dir to

Chitral city.

iii) Suzuki Vans

Suzuki vans are available to commute to the smaller towns/villages off

the main roads in the relatively plain areas of Malakand.

vi) Jeeps

4- Wheel drive, 8 to 10 seater jeeps operate in the difficult areas of

the Region which include the area from Kalam to Usho, Valleys of Dir

and Chitral. The jeeps are hired for a single journey, around trip or on

daily basis.

v) Rent-a-Car

Two types of rent-a-car service is available only in the big cities of the

Region. One is provided in a formal way through the rent-a-car

companies and the other is through the individual car owners

stationed at a few designated locations in the cities.

vii) Taxis

Yellow cabs are also available only in the big cities of the Region. In

principle they are supposed to be metered, but normally they are not

and the fare is negotiated.

viii) Rickshaw

Two seater auto rickshaws are available for short journeys within the

urban areas of few major cities. They are also supposed to be

metered but normally the fare is negotiated.

vix) Horses and Mules

In areas where vehicular movement of any sort is not possible horses

and mules are available to carry the goods and tourists. They normally

operate in Darras of norther Swat, Dir and high mountains of Chitral.

11.4 TRANSPORT RELATED PROBLEMS

Although some mode of transport is available at most of parts of the

Region, the whole system needs a great deal of improvement due to a

number of problems, some of them are as follows.

i) Poor condition of vehicles

The general condition of the buses, coaches or jeeps in terms of level

of service, luxury and comfort is very poor as compared to those

available in Europe or other developing countries like Thailand,

Malaysia and Korea.

ii) Overcrowding

The buses, coaches and almost all modes of transport are heavily

overloaded during the peak tourist reason.

iii) Lack of control on Fares

There is no strict central on the fare practice, especially by the rented

vehicles including private rent-a-car service and rented jeeps. Taxis

and rickshaws also charge exorbitant fares during the peak tourist

season and odd hours of the day.

iv) Poor condition of Terminal Facilities

The general conditions of the bus/coach terminals and the wagon/taxi

stands are extremely poor.

v) Lack of regular service

The operations generally depend upon the will of the transporter or

the driver and there are no fixed routes or timings of operation. In

some of the remote areas no transport whatsoever is available after

the sun set.

11.5 MASTER PLAN PROPOSALS

Following proposals have been made to improve the tourist

transportation in the Region.

i) Improvement in Private Transport Operations

STC should coordinate with the NWFP Ministry of Transport, private

transporters, tour operators and the drivers associations to being

about radical changes in the existing transportation system. A more

practical policy should be prepared to give a monitoring role to STC.

ii) STC Tourist Transport

It is strongly recommended for STC to operate a tourist transport in

the Region, comprised of tourist coaches. The operation should

commence with at least 10 coaches owned and operated by STC.

Additional coaches should be rented on lease from the private sector.

A joint venture with the private transporters can be achieved in which

the private transport can operate under the STC management.

iii) Improvement in Fare Policy

A more rational fare policy should be implemented which stays stable

during all conditions.

iv) Improvement of Terminal

Facilities

Transport terminals should be located at appropriate sites and general

condition of the transport terminals including waiting areas, toilets

and booking offices should be improved.

v) Improvement of Air Transport.

Improvement in the air transport, especially to Chitral is desperately

required . It is proposed to make necessary arrangement so that it is

possible to fly a Boeing airport than a Fokkar only. Boeing has a better

sustainability and stability in bad weathers . Necessary arrangements

also need to be made at Chitral airport for the purpose.

vi) Alternate routes across Lowari Pass.

There is an urgent need to discover an alternate route to Chitral

across Lowari Pass which can remain open even during the snow

falling months of winter.

vii.) Cable Car across Lowari Pass.

It is proposed to provide a cable car link from Gujjar Post in Dir to

Ziarat in Chitral as an alternate mode of transport which can not only

remain open during winter, it will also be a tremendous tourist

attraction. However, the gigantic size of the project requires special

feasibility studies to assess, the technical, economical and physical

aspects of the project,

12. ENVIRONMENT IMPACT ASSESSMENT12. ENVIRONMENT IMPACT ASSESSMENT

12.1 THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

Malakand Division comprises of some of the highest and most famous

mountain ranges including the Hindukush and Karakuram. Therefore,

the area is mostly mountainous bisected and intersected by a large

number of wide, narrow, big and small Valleys. The area towards

south is mostly foot hills of the mountains. These mountains also form

definite physical boundaries of the Region. The largest of these valley

are the Chitral Valley, Dir Valley and the Swat Valley. The are three

major rivers flowing in the Region. River Swat in Swat Valley, River

Panjkora in Dir Valley and River Yarkhun or Chitral in Chitral Valley.

These are other numerous channels and streams flowing within the

Region which actually are the tributaries of the big rivers. The other

striking feature of the Region are a large number of Passes (Darras)

acres the mountains, some of which are very high in altitude and

some others are very famous. Chitral Valley for example has more

than 60 passes on its periphery. The famous passes are the Malakand

Pass, Lowari Pass, Shandoor Pass and Gobor Bakh Pass.

The specific topographic features, lofty mountains, green dense

forests, Valleys, rivers and lakes make this Division more specific case

for the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) study, as these

ecosystems are more fragile to human activities, including tourism

facilities. It presents a good case study for EIA, and a proven situation

where an unplanned tourism facility can cause an ecological disaster ,

the deforestation of Dir is a case in point.

12.2 TOURISM FACILITIES.

A large number of various tourism facilities have been proposed in this

Master Plan to be located at a large number of sites scattered all over

the Region. Some needed infrastructure facilities and civic amenities

have also been proposed in order to complement the development

process.

12.3 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT.

The EIA study has become an essential component of all

developmental activities (pure economic, social, recreational) . Any

economic growth model or tourism development model must be

woven around people and their environment. Several types of human

activities in the name of economic development and growth in fact,

result with the passage of time, in environment dilemma. Tarbela and

Warsak dams are two examples of environment disruption. The

environmental problems are some what insidious: there are serious

impediments to public comprehension ( even those desk and so-called

experts and policy makers fail to understand) the full nature of the

environmental dilemma. Environment degradation is a global problem.

No nation is an island (separated from the rest of the world) unto

itself regarding environmental affairs. Whatever benefits from

environmental health and regeneration one country and one people

eventually get, would benefits all humanity.

Environmental problems and their solutions are of recent origin. In the

1992 Rio Environment Summit, the heads of states used the term

sustainable development that lasting economic growth and human

welfare depend on a healthy environment.

Environmental problems are misunderstood by the public and policy

makers both. How environmental hazards affect man, his

environmental and resources, and that how to maintain an

environmental health without affecting the economic growth models:

economic growth is pitting against environment and vice-versa if

both are not properly balanced. This situation has been a headache

for the policy makers through out the world.

12.4 THE NATURE OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

Environmental problems may be simple, or complex as follows.

12.4.1 Simple Environmental problems

A simple environmental problem consists of a small number of

components of one, or a few types in one hierarchical level, typically

caused accidently, or short term deviation from normal equilibrium

state; normal human experience allows for an appropriate action. A

clear-cut consensus exists for the solution of these problems, as no

interest group is involved. The best examples are the littered

beaches and tourist spots. The polluters are tourists drivers and their

vehicles. The rubbish is mostly shoes, sandals, plastic containers,

plastic bags etc. The biological natural degrading process fails to

degrade such rubbish even in decades. The petroleum based waste

from the vehicles may also destroy the water bodies, resulting in the

destruction of aquatic life.

12.4.2 Complex Ennivonmental Problems

A complex environmental problem exists when a large number of

components with two, or more hierarchical levels are involved. The

problem is caused by sustained and deep rooted dysfunction of one,

or more system components. Conflict of interest exists because of the

defective perception to the most appropriate probable solution.

Normal human experience in one life time (around 60 years), and

small number of places does not allow for solution of the problem.

Even if the problem is completely understood, the interest groups

sabotage the solution of the problem, including illegal payment to the

concerned authority. Some of the examples are the pesticide

conspiracy, and its associated environmental hazards. There are 4

hierarchical levels which are involved in pesticide conspiracy: 1.

Pesticide industry; 2. Ministry of agriculture; 3. Pesticide dealers, and

4. Farmers.

12.4.3 Problem Complexity

The pesticide industry in league with the ministry of agriculture

educate the farmers to use and use more pesticides. The pesticide

dealers push the sale of the products. The farmers are unhappy due to

cost and no efficacy of the product. Similar examples are in transport

and manufacturing industries.

12.5 ECOSYSTEM BEHAVIOR AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

Environmental problems are confusing. Long sequences of

components connected by cause-effect pathways such that it will not

be apparent to most observers where the causes originate and effects

terminate. For example, the fishermen have been complaining that

their fish catch between Tarbela dam and Attock bridge have been

decreasing . Here the causes are perhaps several : fish diseases,

chemical waste from Gadoon industries etc. No reliable data exists in

this regard. Likewise, there are 1900 pesticide dumps in Pakistan.

One such dump lies (partially removed) at the back of police public

school near the Secondary Board area on Jamroud Road, Peshawar.

The question is : do we really comprehend the effect ?

The natural and man-made ecosystems have special basic

characteristics:

12.5.1 Time Lags.

Time lags and cumulative effects are very important in studying EIA.

A complication in many environments develops in the cause-effect

systems which exhibits time lags: an effect may appear some time

after the cause that gave rise to it was operating, but also an effect

now may be produced not just by a cause 5 years ago, but by the sum

of all the causes operating between 5 and 10 years ago. One of the

clear cut examples of such cumulative effects occurs when the

cumulative assault of environmental pollution on human organisms

finally triggers cancer. The effects of pollutants (causative agents) now

existing in Peshawar City area will appear after quite some time and

not now. This is the enigma of environmental problem. The enigmatic

nature of environmental problems further complicates their solution.

12.5.2 The Policy Implication.

The policy implication of cumulative effects and time lags is that it

may be difficult to mobilize a constituency (i.e.; public figures,

bureaucrats, and politicians) to deal with this lagged and cumulative

effect. The reason being that it is not clear in their minds that there is

a connection between a cause operating long ago and an effect

occurring now. Even in our scientific community it is difficult to make

the case really convincing. There are numerous examples in this

regard including in the sectors of agriculture, industries, and

transport.

In addition to the time lags and cumulative effects, ecosystems have

thresholds. Environmental thresholds are found every where, rather

the whole of Pakistan is almost at the negative environmental

threshold: all our habitats, natural and man-made are used above

their carrying capacity which means they are at the threshold of

negative environmental impact.

The following indicators are necessary to be considered when

analyzing the data for EIA study.

A. Biological

The following 3 components are important in this respect.

i. Vegetation

Some of the tourism facilities proposed in the Master Plan comprise

hotels, motels, restaurants, picnic spots, camping grounds, fishing and

boating. These facilities will definitely cause environmental disruption

in the form of localized deforestation, erosion and pollution, as the

flora of these habitats consists of a variety of plant and grass species:

Scrub grasses, deodar, fir, alpine, subalpine, pastures, lichens and

grasses. The increase in tourist number along with their vehicles to

the proposed tourism facilities will cause environmental disruption.

The one plus point here is the seasonality factor of the tourism

facilities in districts of Swat, Dir and Chitral, which would have a

mitigative and regenerative effect on the concerned ecosystems.

ii. Wild Life

Malakand Division has a large variety in topography and climate.

Consequently, it has a diverse type of flora, and hence, a diverse type

of wild life fauna. Some of the major wild life reported in and around

the proposed tourism facilities are as under:

Mammals. Grey languor; Rhesus monkeys; Himalayan Ibex; (musk

deer) Urial (wild sheep); snow leopard; common leopard; black bear;

brown bear.

Birds:Snow partridges; Himalayan snow cock; and many others.

iii. Aquatic life

The EIA study of aquatic life would concentrate mainly on fishing;

commercial and sports. Some of the water sports including boating,

fishing and rafting would have a negative impact on the aquatic

habitat which in turn, would negatively affect the normal fish

population. This is in addition to the rubbish, eroded matter etc. which

would end up in the water, further deteriorating its quality and

endangering aquatic life.

B. Physical indicators

i. Surface water

Danger to the surface water would accrue due to the unscrupulous

behavior of the tourists by improperly throwing the oily discharges of

their vehicles in the proposed tourist facilities. The resultant

pollutants mainly plastic bags and sandals etc. would cause a

negative impact on the ecosystems in and around the tourist facilities.

Ending up of eroded matter in surface water would also be a cause of

concern.

ii. Ground Water

The ground water will be affected by the tourism facilities, resulting in

sub-standard, or non-standard quality of ground water. However, this

negative impact could be easily avoided or mitigated by a modern

solid waste disposal system, and good drains via public health

engineering, and high standard of maintenance in the proposed tourist

facilities. Therefore, surface and ground water would be saved from

the pollution and safe drinking water will be available.

iii. Air Quality

Vehicular traffic and organic waste would be major source of air

pollution, as the diesel transport tendency is on increase, plus poor

vehicle maintenance. However, the thin local population, vast expanse

of the area and the green mountainous habitats would avoid or

mitigate any negative impact on the air quality. Therefore, air quality

will not be disturbed by the proposed tourist facilities.

iv. Erosion

Erosion of the concerned ecosystems would be a cause for the

negative impact of tourist facilities. The people and their vehicles

would erode the ecosystems because the tourist facilities have been

proposed on fragile ecosystems. The erosion problem would be

exacerbated by the raindrops. The raindrops fallings with force on

ground; hilly semi hilly, mid-hill sandy habitats (as opposed to plains

of D.I.Khan) would loosen the eroded, or semi-eroded ecosystems,

and thus the eroded matter would be carried along and flown with

water. However, this situation would be avoided, or the negative

impact may be mitigated by constructing and properly maintaining

flood water drains. Such drains are therefore essential.

v. Noise Pollution

The effect of noise (unwanted sound) on the ecosystems of the

proposed tourism facilities would be insignificant because of the more

sound absorptive capacity of the hilly ecosystem (as opposed to the

plain areas where sound travels fast) where the sound is rarely or

slightly reflected. Therefore, noise pollution in this vast expanse

ecosystem will not be above the human tolerance level.

vi. Pollution

Pollution of the ecosystems would be associated with the

establishment of proposed tourist facilities. The tourist throw away

rubbish (mostly non-biodegradable plastics), oily discharge of

vehicles, localized deforestation, erosion etc. all would cause a

negative impact on the ecosystems and their inhabitants. It is

therefore proposed to be vigilant in selecting specific site for a

particular tourist facility and the design, construction etc. must be

positioned and maintained properly. In this way the negative impact

would be mitigated, or partially avoided.

C. Human Use

The quality and quantity of the benefits which would accrue,

concomitantly, must also be taken into consideration, which are as

follows.

i. Transport

The transport facilities are very important and must be considered in

the context of local road transport system prevailing in the Region,

which include buses, flying coaches, horses & mules, jeeps and

rickshaws. Their stops, stations, on the way to and from tourism

facilities would also be beneficial to the local community in order to

mitigate their existing transport problems. The road projects identified

and proposed in the Master Plan would facilitate inter-and intra-

provincial travelling of the local community.

ii. Power Supply

The power supply projects proposed in the Master Plan are small scale

thermal power generation. The supply of such power to the local

community will change their life style and living standard will be

improved.

iii. Land Use

With the introduction of tourism facilities and roads (in some places)

mini-markets will develop for the fresh vegetables and fruits which

would be marketed at high prices. Therefore, the proposed tourist

facilities would act as incentive to farm small pieces of land (1/8th of

an acre even ) and terrace fields with little amount of water, and grow

vegetable and fruits. Thus, the people would be encouraged for

farming and use land in small pieces. This would be economically

beneficial to the local community.

iv. Agriculture

As a result of the tourist facilities, road and transport system would be

improved and it would be easy for the small scale farmers to transport

their farm perishable produce to inter-district markets in Malakand

Division, and fetch reasonable price. Transport at the right time has

been expressed as a serious problem by a large number of small

scale farmers. This is in addition to the local mini-markets of farm

produce that would develop as a result of the proposed tourist

facilities in the concerned area.

D. Quality of Life

The tourist facilities proposed in the Master Plan would have a positive

impact on the quality of life in several ways. Some of the indicators

that could run through the tourist facilities impact are as under.

i. Socio-Economic

The effect on the life of local community in terms of the socio

economic conditions would be positive as a result of the proposed

tourist facilities in the area. It would improve their living. There would

be fruit, vegetable, sweats and cigarette vendors at various localities

where the tourist facilities are proposed. A kind of local mini-market

would develop for trading and transaction on small scale. This

business and trading activity would affect their economic life and also

the social interaction with tourists would widen their knowledge with

more options opened.

ii. Employment

The tourist facilities would attract local, domestic as well as foreign

tourists. The skills and management that would be needed for

managing the proposed tourism facilities in Malakand division would

be easily available locally. Therefore, the local people would get

employment in the operation, management and maintenance of the

proposed tourist facilities. This would be a great help in reducing

unemployment in the employment-starved area of the Malakand

division.

iii. Social Values

No social, religious, aesthetic, archaeological, historical, pure taboos,

or rituals would be offended by establishing the proposed tourist

facilities at identified and selected sites in Hazara division.

iv. Public Health.

All levels of public health facilities (primary secondary, and even

tertiary) are generally available to the people of Malakand division,

except the remote areas of Chitral Valley. Therefore, very few public

health facilities have been proposed in the Master Plan. The improved

road and transport facilities as proposed in some places would help

the local community to transport their patients in time to the public

health facilities and the patients will not succumb to bleeding before

reaching such health facilities .

v. Nutrition

Lack of the proper nutrition is a general problem in Pakistan, more so

in the proposed study area, mostly in some parts of the Dir and

Chitral Valleys. By improving the socio-economic conditions,

employment opportunities etc. as a result of the proposed tourist

facilities, the local community would have more options , and hence

there might be a change in their life style and traditional sources of

nutrition, leading towards an improvement in their nutrition situation.

vi. Communication

The communication facilities already exist in the Region, which are

not far away from the inter-district and inter-province communication

links. However, the Master Plan has proposed the establishment of

telephone exchange facilities in some parts of, which would further

facilitate the communication in the area.

12.6 THE E.I.A RESULTS

The EIA analysis indicates the following.

i. The positive impacts of the proposed tourism facilities in the

selected sites of Hazara division are far more in quantity and

quality than the negative ones.

ii. Pollution and erosion of the fragile ecosystems would be the

major problems.

iii. Localized deforestation on a small scale may result in habitat

erosion.

12.7 THE E.I.A RECOMMENDATIONS

i. Site selection for tourism facilities around the dams may be

given a second thought, as water resources( natural and man-

made) are very sensitive to ecological disruption.

ii. Flood water drains are essential in some places.

iii. Full time sanitary inspectors or caretakers must be employed to

look after the cleanliness and environmental health of the area

where the tourism facilities have been proposed.

iv. Retaining walls may be needed in some places to avoid

flood water erosion of the ecosystems.

13. ROLE OF PRIVATE SECTOR13. ROLE OF PRIVATE SECTOR

Private sector in a larger context in tourism sector comprises of two

sets of population:

a) The Community, and

b) The Private investors

Therefore the role of the private sector has been ascertained and

envisaged in both the aspects, as follows.

13.1 COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

It has now been increasingly recognized that community plays a

significant and important role in the sustainable success of the

projects which mainly depend on the community participation during

as well as after the implementation.

It has also been recognized now that community participates in the

projects either directly or indirectly, the role may be as owner, as user

or as facilitator. Specifically speaking with regards to tourism,

community has many opportunities to contribute into various activities

related especially with the services industry. Consultants have carried

out a survey in order to ascertain and asses the social and cultural

acceptability of tourism in the region and also to explore various

modes of participation by the community in general. The results of the

survey are as follows:

Level of education of the respondent is normally a strong indication of

his opinion. Out of all the respondents surveyed 56% were metric,

19% were intermediate and 25% had no formal education. The survey

shows a fair coverage of educated as well as non-educated persons in

the study area. Professional status of a person to a great deal is

reflected in the opportunities available to him for recreation. Out of

the total respondents as much as 50% were engaged in business,

20% were government servants and another 30% were either

employed or working in the private sectors. The survey results reveal

a 100% acceptance of tourists coming for visit to the areas of tourism

potential. People generally feel comfortable and welcome such an

activity. It is generally accepted by almost everybody in the study

area that tourism is an income generating activity. As shown in the

survey results 100% of the respondents have expressed this view.

There is a unanimous opinion about the willingness to participate in

various activities involved in the tourism activities as 100% of the

respondents have expressed their willingness in this regard. In

response to the question as to how the participation of the

communities will be achieved, as much as 69% were interested in

some kind of business opportunity through their own investment,

whereas another 19% were seeking better employment opportunities.

Only 12% were willing to participate but have no clear idea about the

mode of participation.

13.2 PRIVATE SECTOR INVESTMENT

Private sector in Hazara Region is already making a significate

contribution by investment in the tourism and tourism related

activities, as most of the hotels, motels, restaurants, transport etc. are

owned and operated by the private sector. It is now widely recognized

and accepted that the private sector has the greatest potential to

further invest into the tourism and tourism related activities. This role

of private investment may take one of the following two forms.

a) Investment by the private sector alone as individuals or

entrepreneurs.

b) Investment in collaboration with STC as joint venture. The

modes operandi of the joint venture will however, mainly

depends on the terms and conditions and the acceptability by

both the parities. One thing is certain that the funding has to be

made by the private investors keeping in view the limited or no

capacity of STC in this regard. However, STC may contribute in

terms of incentives offered for the operation and location of the

investment and also in terms of management of the facilities. In

simple terms private sector contributes in cash and STC

contributes in kind. It is however, extremely vague and naive to

the already identify the terms and conditions of any such joint

venture at this stage. STC has to deal with each individual case

separately in order to achieve a practical formula to each

specific case.

The following proposals have been specifically made by the

consultants in this regard.

i) Preparation of Feasibility Studies

It is proposed that STC should prepare feasibility studies for all the

projects clearly showing the nature of the project, its location, capital

cost, operation & maintenance cost and amount of annual profit

expected from the project. The copies of feasibility studies should be

kept in STC office and made available to the interested parties for

their review and study. Further negotiations may take place if the

party is interested in any specific project.

ii) Holding of Investors Workshop

STC should arrange a workshop at an appropriate time and place to

brief the potential investors regarding the STC projects requiring

private investment. All the members of provincial and national

assemblies from NWFP, industrialists, hoteliers and land lords should

be invited to this workshop. Memorandums of understanding (MOU'S)

should be signed at the end of the workshop with the interested

parties and further negotiations should be held to clearly chalk out the

terms and conditions of the investment.

iii) Press advertisements

STC should advertise in the local and national press about each

specific project available for private investment. Negotiations should

take place about the detailed terms and conditions of the investment

with financially sound and reliable parties, after careful selection.

iv) Formal and Informal Contacts

STC in its own capacity may establish formal as well as informal

contacts with known potential investors in the private sector, invite

them for a detailed discussion on selected STC projects and negotiate

terms and conditions of the proposed investment.

14. PROPOSED MARKETING AND PROMOTION14. PROPOSED MARKETING AND PROMOTION

PLANPLAN

The success or failure of any product to a great deal depends on its

marketing and promotion . The importance of good marketing and

promotion is fully recognized in the present day world. A

comprehensive and integrated campaign both at intensive and

extensive scales is an essential prerequisite for the success of tourism

industry in the Region. It requires to make use of the latest and

innovative marketing and promotion techniques including satellites

and computers. A futuristic approach need to be adopted for this

purpose.

The marketing of the tourist attractions located in the Region need to

be carried out both at home as well as abroad, as follows ;

14.1 DOMESTIC LEVEL.

Recreation and sight seeing is a very personal and social altitude. It is

strongly linked with the political and economic conditions prevailing at

one point in time. Domestic tourism has gained enormous momentum

during the recent years due to the improvements in the level of

education and socio economic conditions. However, it still needs a

great deal of information, motivation, guidance and incentives to

attract the people for tourism. The marketing needs to approach the

general public at large including all segments of population. The

domestic tourism market covers the whole country extending from

Karachi to Peshawar, including all the metropolitan cities as well as

small settlements. Most tourists arrive in groups of individuals,

families, students etc. The following techniques are proposed to be

applied for this purpose.

14.1.1 PRINT MEDIA

As a result of the survey of tourists carried out by the consultants, it is

revealed that one of the most common source of information for the

tourists are books and other literature.

Print media includes newspapers, magazines, books, booklets,

brochures, leaf lets and press advertisements. The literate of the

society are approached through this print media. STC needs to print

and publish material promoting individual potential sites located

within the Region through brochures, booklets and leaflets. These are

normally complementary copies supplied free of charge. The major

outlets are all the major hotels, restaurants, tourism offices, travelling

agents and tour operators. Magazines and books need to be printed

and published for sale through outlets stated above. Introductory

features need to be published in the national dailies and widely

circulated magazines.

Additionally, it is proposed that a quarterly magazine should be

published by STC . This 10 page foolscap size magazine should supply

information regarding the upto date and recent developments taking

place in tourism sector within NWFP and also news about other

tourism corporations in Pakistan together with international tourists

news. A separate cell within STC need to be created for this purpose.

Some of the names suggested for this magazine are as follows.

- STC News

- The Tourist Times

- The Tourism

14.1.2 Hoarding

It is proposed for STC to undertake an extensive campaign of erecting

and displaying large size sign boards/ neon signs at appropriate

locations of public gatherings including the following.

- Along national and regional roads.

- Railway stations

- Bus Terminals

- Airports

- Shopping Plazas

- Places of Public assembly

- Sports events

- Festivals and fairs

14.1.3 Tele Media

Tele Media is perhaps the most effective and far reaching media to

disseminate information. Most of the general Public both literate as

well as illiterate are accessible through the national television network

in the country. The satellite programmes through dish antenna can be

seen anywhere in the country from major centers to the far flung

remote mountainous areas of the country. The national television

network and the satellite telecasting can be used for small duration

advertisement and short duration introductory programmes.

Documentary films should be prepared highlighting various potential

tourist spots and places of interest. Discovery channel of satellite,

CNN, NTM, STN, PTV-1, PTV-2 and many other channels are available

for this purpose.

The special recommendation in the regard is to telecast the whether

conditions, road conditions, availability of hotel rooms and alternate

transport routes for tourists in various tourism areas soon after the

national News on PTV during at least 3 months of the peak tourist

season.

14.1.4 Radio Programmes

Radio broadcasting is another effective media to approach the public

almost everywhere in the country. It is proposed to establish a Tourist

Radio Station at Peshawar on FM frequency to relay variety of

interesting and informative programmes similar to the existing FM 100

Radio Station. The information regarding the weather forecasting,

condition of various roads frequently used by the tourists, availability

of hotel accommodation at various tourist concentration spots and the

availability of alternate modes of transport at various routes can also

be aired.

14.1.5 Organized Tours

The period of summer vacations is also the tourism season for

domestic tourists when all the education institutions of all levels are

closed for 2 months, mainly from the mid of June to mid of August

every year. Students from many education institutions make

organized trips in buses belonging to the institutions or rented for the

whole trip. This activity can be further enhanced by facilitating these

trips by STC in many ways. Many other organizations like banks, large

industrial concerns, various public and private agencies and

departments with large number of employees can also be contacted

and encouraged to organize trips to various tourist attractions in the

area. STC has to play a more effective role in this regard.

14.2 INTERNATIONAL LEVEL

Foreign tourist traffic to Pakistan is negligible at the moment, perhaps

that is why Pakistan is known as the best kept secret of Asia. Pakistan

is an alien name to the people of many countries of the world.

Pakistan as whole a and STC particularly needs to do a great deal of

work to introduce Pakistan abroad, and promote tourism in those

countries. At the same time it needs to make appropriate

arrangements to facilitate the tourism activity to make it a sustainable

development so as if and when the tourists come, they fully enjoy

without disappointment. Following are the recommended means to

promote the Pakistani Tourism at international level.

14.2.1 Pakistani Missions

Pakistani missions abroad including embassies and consulates can

play a leading role in the promotion of Pakistani Tourism in respective

countries. On special occasions like Pakistan Day, Republic Day,

Independence Day, special congregations can be held. Special

features and supplements can be published in the newspapers of

those countries. Cultural programmes can also be held. Businessmen

generally like to combine business with pleasure, therefore foreign

businessmen visiting Pakistan can be made special offers in this

regard. Cultural Exchange programmes can be arranged. Exchange

programmes of students with various education institutions can also

be carried out. Commercial and cultural attaches appointed in

Pakistan missions abroad can play a vital role and this role should be

brought within the mandate of their services in a formal and

obligatory manner. These missions should also act as outlets for the

distribution of literature regarding tourism in Pakistan.

14.2.2 Joint Ventures with Tour Operators

Tour operators in foreign countries are playing an important role in

the promotion of tourism. Joint ventures between STC and foreign tour

operators or joint ventures of Pakistani tour operators with foreign

tour operators through STC can make a great deal of business for

tourism in Pakistan.

14.2.3 International Air Lines

International air lines with PIA as leading agency can arrange package

tours with special discounted fares to various tourist locations in

Pakistan. PIA should enter into agreements with international air lines

to extend this facility on reciprocal basis. The other arrangements of

local transport and hotels can be made jointly by PIA and STC.

14.2.4 Satellite T.V Programmes

As said earlier in para 14.1.3, various programmes, advertisements,

documentaries and short clippings can be arranged to be aired on

satellite for an effective and continuous promotion campaign in the

foreign countries.

15. PROPOSED HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT15. PROPOSED HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

PLANPLAN

Human resource development has so for been a neglected aspect in

many fields including tourism industry. It is now increasingly felt that

human resource development plays a significant role in order to

achieve economy, efficiency, excellence of service and comfort and

sustainablity. As a result, an Institute of Hotel Management has been

recently established in Lahore by the Pakistan Tourism Development

Corporation (PTDC), which offers short term courses on hotel

management. However, its capacity to impart training in many other

fields related with the tourism industry is extremely limited.

Additionally, STC has undertaken a series of short term Training

Workshops at various cities in NWFP in order to enhance and

strengthen the professional capacity and capability of the tourism

related jobs.

The tourism related service sector includes the following occupations:-

i. Hotel Management

ii. Hotel accounting and financing

iii. Front Desk/Receptionists.

iv. Cooks

v. Waiters and service boys

vi. Tour Operators

vii. Tour Guides

viii Translators

ix Tourist Drivers.

The Master Plan proposed the following steps to be taken to achieve

an integrated and comprehensive human resource development.

i. to increase the capacity as well as coverage of allied professions

at the PTDC Institute of Hotel Management.

ii. to arrange scholarships/stipends to study at the PTDC institute

of Hotel Management to the applicants of remote areas and

from low-income families, especially applicants coming from the

areas where tourism is a dominant activity.

iii. to arrange scholarships to study ad attend short term courses

abroad.

iv. to ensure regular employment after completion of the

studies/training courses.

v. to carry out short term training workshops on regular basis by

STC.

vi. Commercial enterprises engaged in the services of tourism

should be involved to sponsor the training workshops etc. This

will need a high level of coordination between the private sector

involvement will also be used for many other areas where the

strong role of private sector in the tourism industry is eagerly

sought.

16. COST ESTIMATES16. COST ESTIMATES

Following are the cost estimates prepared for various project

components as have been identified in the Master Plan. They are

mainly based on the current market prices and are entirely and

extremely approximate. The actual and detailed costs for each of the

project components should be prepared at a later stage together with

detailed designing and at the time of its execution. Therefore, the

Umbrella PC-1 to be prepared after this Master Plan will include these

approximate costs and the PC-1's for each specific project to be

prepared at the time of the implementation of the Master Plan will

include the actual costs as and when these specific PC-1's are

prepared by STC.

16.1 TOURISM FACILITIES

16.1.1 Hotels

For the purpose of this Master Plan and the estimates of rough costs, it

is assumed that a hotel will be located on an area measuring about 1

acre and will provide accommodation of 100 beds (50 rooms). The

total cost including the cost of land, design cost, building cost and

furnishing cost is estimated to be:

Rs: 20.00 million.

16.1.1 Motel

It is assumed that a motel will be located on an area of 0.5 acre (4

kanals) and will provide accommodation of 20 beds in 10 rooms. The

total cost including the cost of land, design and construction cost as

well as the furnishing cost is estimated to be:

Rs: 5.00 millions.

16.1.1 Tourist Hostel

A tourist hostel will provide accommodation to 40 persons in 20 rooms

and will be located on land measuring 0.5 acre (4 kanals). The total

cost including the cost of land, design cost, construction cost and

furnishing cost is estimated to be:

Rs. 10.00 million.

16.1.4 Restaurants

A restaurant is proposed to be located on land measuring

approximately 2 kanals to 4 kanals with a

dining hall with the seating capacity of 50 to

60 persons. The total cost of a restaurant

including the cost of land, deign, building and

furnishing costs is estimated to be:

Rs. 2.00 million.

16.1.5 Picnic Spot

All picnic spots will vary considerably in area depending on the

location, tourism potential, anticipated and planned functions and

availability of land. However, for the sake of this Master Plan it is

assumed that a picnic spot will cover an area of 5 kanals to 20 kanals.

The total cost including the cost of land, soft and hard landscaping and

other ancillary facilities will be approximately

Rs. 4.00 million.

16.1.6 Tourist Facilitation Centre

A tourist facilitation centre is proposed to be provided on an area

ranging from half a kanals to 1 kanal. It will include space for

reception, offices, display area and waiting area. The total cost

including the cost of land, design cost, building cost and furnishing

cost is estimated to be:

Rs. 0.50 million.

16.1.7 Roadside Facility

A roadside facility is assumed to be a food stall covering a small area

of 0.5 kanal. The total cost including the cost of land, structure and

building space is estimated to be.

Rs. 0.1 million.

16.1.8 Cable Car

The cost of cable car will vary considerably based on its location, the

length of the cable, the number of stations etc. Data has been

collected from locations in Pakistan where such facilities have already

been installed like Murree, Patriata and Malam Jaba for this purpose.

For the purpose of this Master Plan, it is estimated that each cable car

service will approximately cost:

Rs. 15.00 million.

16.1.9 Camping Site

An average size camping site with auxiliary service provided on site is

estimated to cost.

Rs. 2.00 million.

16.1.10 Fishing

Establishment of the fishing spots generally does not need much of

the development works. However, the cost of erecting sign boards,

street furniture, supervision hut etc. for each location is estimated to

cost

Rs. 0.05 million.

16.1.11 Boating

The cost of boating may vary considerably depending the level of

service. However, for the sake of this master plan it is assumed that

including the cost of boats, motor boats, motor launches and the

development of the boating basin, each facility will cost.

Rs. 1.50 million.

16.1.12 Tracking

The cost of development of the planned tracking routes at proposed

locations may also vary considerably, depending on the location and

the length of the track. However, it is estimated that including the

cost of direction signs, track development and street furniture, each

track will approximately cost

Rs. 0.10 million.

16.1.13 Winter Sports

Winter sports in this context means a Dome of ice-skating. It will also

include the auxiliary facilities of snack bar, changing and waiting

rooms, visitors gallery and administrative offices. The total cost for

each facility will include the cost of land, design, building and

furnishing which is estimated to be approximately

Rs. 3.00 million.

The summery of cost estimates of various tourist facilities are shown

in Table-8.

Table-8: Estimated cost of Proposed Tourists

Facilities

S.No Type of Facility No. of

Facilities

Cost per

Unit Rs.

million

Total Cost

Rs. million

1. Hotels 15 20.00 300.00

2. Motels 15 5.00 75.00

3. Tourist Hostels 3 10.00 30.00

4. Restaurants 20 2.00 40.00

5. Picnic spots 22 4.00 88.00

6. Roadside facilities 14 0.10 1.40

7. Tourist Facilitation

Centre

6 0.50 3.00

8. Cable car 6 15.00 90.00

9. Camping sites 5 2.00 10.00

10. Fishing 2 0.05 0.10

11. Boating 0 1.50 0.00

12. Rafting 0 1.00 0.00

13. Winter sports 3 3.00 9.00

14. Tracking 7 0.10 0.70

Total 647.20

Less cost of Hotels (647.20 - 300.00) =

347.20

The cost for cable car does not include the cost for the proposed cable car

acres Lowari Top, being an exceptionally big project. This cost needs to be

calculated under a separate project component.

16.2 INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITIES.

A number of infrastructure projects have been identified at various

locations in the Region. The cost estimates will be prepared together

with the detailed designs and PC-1's by the relevant executing

agency. The infrastructure facilities include roads, water supply,

sewerage solid waste collection and disposal, electricity and

telephone. The relevant executing agencies are the Highway

Department, C & W Department, Public Heath Engineering Depart,

WAPDA, PTC and the Local Administrations.

16.3 CIVIC AMENITIES

Various civic amenities including police, post, health, and banks are

proposed to be provided at various locations in the Region. However,

the cost estimates for each one of these amenities will be determined

and projects implemented by the relevant departments which include,

the Home Department, Health Department,

Communication/Information Department and the commercial banks.

16.4 TRANSPORTATION

It is proposed in the Master Plan to operate STC transport consisting of

at least 10 tourist coaches. The cost of the coaches together with

terminal facilities, auxiliary services and operation for the first year is

estimated to be.

Rs. 50 million.

16.5 MARKETING AND PROMOTION

16.5.1 Print Media

The print media includes the publishing of at 20 different leaflets and

brochures in adequate numbers, printing of a number of press

advertisements, and the publishing of other promotion materials. The

cost roughly has been estimated to be:

Rs. 5.00 million.

16.5.2 STC Magazine

A 10 page quarterly magazine is proposed to be published by STC .It is

estimated to cost STC for its establishment and launching an amount

of approximately.

Rs. 5.00 million.

16.5.3 Hoarding

It is proposed to erect sign boards and neon signs at not less than 100

locations all over the country. It is estimated that they will roughly

cost.

Rs. 10.00 million.

16.5.4 Tele Media

This will include the preparation of short duration advertisements,

films, documentaries, clippings and interviews. It is estimated that

these activities will cost approximately:

Rs. 20 .00 million.

16.6 TRAINING AND RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

It will include the commencement of various training programmes,

Training Workshops, award of scholarships both within Pakistan and

aboard. It is estimated that these activities will roughly cost:

Rs. 10.00 million.

16.7 INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS

16.7.1 STC Strengthening

The institutional strengthening of STC is proposed as an essential pre-

requisite for the implementation of this Master Plan. A number of

sections/cells/departments are proposed to be created/established

within STC for this purpose. The institutional strengthening will include

the personal salaries, allowances, office stationary etc. It is roughly

estimated that for the plan period of 10 years, it will roughly cost:

Rs. 50.00 million.

16.7.2 STC Consultancy

The implementation of this Master Plan in the form of the number of

various projects identified therein will require the designing and

preparation of the specific projects. Keeping in view the technical and

professional expertise required in a variety of fields, it is anticipated

that STC will require the services of a number of Consultants in this

regard. It is estimated that this consultancy service will cost

approximately:

Rs. 30.00 million

The aggregate cost estimates are given in Table-9, as follows.

Table-9: Total Cost Estimates

S.No Project Components Total Cost (Rs. Millions)

1. Tourism Facilities 347.20

2. Infrastructure Facilities -

3. Civic Amenities -

4. STC Transportation 50.00

5. Marketing and Promotion 40.00

6. Training and Resource Dev. 10.00

7. STC Strengthening 50.00

8. STC Consultancy 30.00

Total 527.20

17. FUNDING ARRANGEMENTS17. FUNDING ARRANGEMENTS

Funding is required for the following project components as proposal

in this Master Plan. The proposed funding arrangements for each

category of projects is also discussed as under.

17.1 INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS

The proposed infrastructure projects include, roads, water supply,

sewerage, solid waste management and electricity and telephone.

They include both improvement/upgrading/extension to the existing

networks and the provision of new networks. Each one of the above

projects fall within the responsibility of the respective provincial

department including Highway Department, C & W Department,

Public Heath Engineering Department, the Local Municipal Authority,

WAPDA and Telecom. Deptt. Each one of these departments have

allocation of funds made under the provincial and departmental

Annual Development Programmes (ADP). The projects identified for

various infrastructure facilities should be included in the ADP's during

the coming years according to the phasing proposed in this Master

Plan.

17.2 CIVIC AMENITIES PROJECTS

The proposed civic amenities projects include post offices, police

stations, health facilities, and banks. Each category of projects are the

responsibility of the respective provincial departments including the

Home Department, Health Department, Communications Department

and Zonal Head Offices of various commercial banks. Each one of

these departments has fund allocations made under the Annual

Development Program (ADP's) except the banks. The projects

identified for the provision of various civic amenities should be

included in the ADP's of the respective departments according to the

phasing proposed in this Master Plan.

17.3 TOURIST FACILITIES DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

A large number of tourist facilities have been proposed to be

developed both in the private as well as in the public sectors and also

as a joint venture of both of them. The proposed funding

arrangements for various tourist facility projects are as follows:

17.3.1 Private Sector

The projects proposed to be funded by the private sector alone re as

follows:

i) Hotels

ii) Roadside facilities

17.3.2 STC

The tourist facilities projects proposed to be funded by STC alone

through grants from the provincial and federal governments and loans

from financial institutions are as follows:

i) Picnic spots

ii) Tourist Facilitation Centers

iii) Camping Grounds

iv) Tracking Routes

17.4 STC TOURIST TRANSPORT

It is proposed to fully own and operate the proposed 10 coaches for

the purpose of tourist transport by STC alone. However, additional

coaches under STC arrangements should be operated under

partnership with the private sector.

17.5 MARKETING AND PROMOTION

Funding arrangements to carry out the intensive and extensive

campaigns for the marketing of projects and promotions of tourism

within Pakistan and abroad is proposed take place with the help of the

private sector. A large number of private sector industries and

business concerns should be contacted to sponsor various marketing

and promotion activities as proposed in Chapter-14 of this Master

Plan. Consultants have thoroughly explored the possibility of this

funding source and have been extended full assurance in this regard

by a large number of giant business establishments.

17.6 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

Service sector plays an important role in functioning of tourism

activities at various levels. Master Plan has proposed various

programmes in response to the need to develop the service sector

which includes a number of training programmes, workshops,

education sessions etc. both available in Pakistan and abroad, some

requiring stipends and scholarships. It is proposed that STC should be

given appropriate funds for this purpose through provincial and

federal grants/allocations.

17.7 STC INSTITUTIONAL STRENGTHENING

STC needs a handsome amount of funding for its functions and

operations during the future. Following are the possible modes of

funding for STC administrative expenditures.

i) Annual Development Programma (ADP)

ii) Revenue Generation from various projects.

It is proposed that appropriate allocations should be made in the

provincial ADP's to meet the STC administrative expenses during the

first 2 to 3 years of the implementation of the Master Plan. During the

same years some of the proposed projects will be implemented and

put in operation in order to yield enough revenues for STC to support

its staff and meet others administrative expenses to function properly

and strongly. During the later years after the completion of the

remaining projects, STC may generate enough revenues to further

invest into its activities.

17.8 STC CONSULTANCY

In order to achieve a sustainable development activities STC will

require the services of various consultants for various activities

including the designing of various proposed tourist facilities, training

programmes an management purposes. The funding for various

consultancy components is proposed to be made by the ADP

allocations throughout the plan period of the Master Plan.

17.9 REVENUE GENERATING ACTIVITIES

One of the aims of this Regional Plan and an essential salient features

is to make STC a self financing organization which is also able to

expand its functions and provide further facilities in the tourism

sector.

Hence the Master Plan has proposed a number of activities which may

involve funding from STC at initial stages but ultimately will become

revenue generating activities. These are of two types.

a) STC and Private Sector Partnership

i) STC Motels

ii) STC Tourist Hostels

iii) STC Restaurants

iv) Cable Car

v) Fishing are/Boating

vi) Winter sports

b) Funded by STC alone

i) STC Transport

ii) STC Magazine

iii) STC Publications

18.18. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS AND STCINSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS AND STC

STRENGTHENINGSTRENGTHENING

Before discussing any new institutional arrangements to be made, it is

quite useful to consider the existing institutional arrangements

existing at national and local levels, in the context of their

performance which are as follows.

18.1 MINISTRY OF TOURISM.

Ministry of Tourism exists in Pakistan, both at the federal as well as

provincial levels. It is actually a separate department attached from

time to time with various ministries including Culture and Sports.

At the provincial level an office of the Deputy Controller, Ministry of

Tourism exists in Peshawar. The main functions of this department are

to issue licenses to hotels and restaurants to legally operate in NWFP

and also to issue licenses to tour operators and traveling agents under

two different Acts passed in 1976.

18.2.PAKISTAN TOURISM DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (PTDC)

Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation established in 1970 was

initially envisaged to be a private sector venture. But within a few

years, it became yet another semi-government organization where the

crest fallen dummy-gods of bureaucracy were dumped till they were

rehabilitated. Tenures of some of the managing directors were as

short as 6 weeks to 10 months.

The only period during which a lot of development projects were

initiated and completed was from 1973 to 1975 when enough funds

were secured to upgrade tourist facilities and to build new ones. After

that, Managing Directors were appointed and removed at short

intervals with the result that no new projects were undertaken. They

concentrated more on foreign tours than bringing about

improvements in the systems. The situation prevailed till 1977

whereafter the tourism was considered as a threat to Islamic values

and culture.

After Martial Law was removed and a democratic system took over,

serious thought was given to tourism as industry since 1988. However,

no practical step was taken in this direction for improvement, mainly

due to the hurdles created by the Ministry of Finance and CBR.

Despite many hurdles, the Government during the previous tenure of

Main Nawaz Sharif, allocated more than 250 million rupees for the

development and marketing of projects. But the PTDC with hardly any

expertise in these fields could not utilize such a large allocation. The

funds were squandered away on purchase of luxury vehicles for

personal use, inviable small motel projects and on "official foreign

trips. Eighty percent of the funds allocated to PTDC were utilized for

payment of salaries and overheads.

However, steps taken recently are indicative of another move in the

right direction and if sustained it may bring some fruitful results in the

near future.

18.3.OTHERS PROVINCIAL TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

CORPORATIONS

The story of provincial tourism corporation of Punjab and Sind is no

different from that of PTDC. The Tourism Development Corporation of

Punjab (TDCP) was created in mid 80's with an initial allocation of over

Rs. 100 million. Luxury coaches were bought, tourists facilities began

to be developed, tourists information centers were opened and a chair

lift was installed at Patriata-Murree.

But soon the Corporation was turned into a sort of employment

agency. Hundreds of sons, nephews, and acquaintances of Ministers,

MNA's and MPA's were inducted and the corporation was reduced to

near bankruptcy. It is still in a financial crisis.

As for Sind Tourism Development Corporation, set up some five years

ago, it has yet to prove its existence. Like PTDC, it has had nearly half

a dozen managing directors in five years. The chief executive is never

allowed to work independently. Vehicles purchased for STDC were

placed at the disposal of the then Chief Minister. No development

activities have been undertaken so far though the province is rich in

tourism potential.

Baluchistan is yet to decide whether it needs a tourism organization,

although it has so much to offer by way of beaches, archaeological

sites, hill station of Ziarat and an interesting topography and full range

of fruit orchards all over.

18.4.SARHAD TOURISM CORPORATION (STC)

The only province is NWFP where tourism is being taken seriously as

an economic activity. In 1991, the Government of NWFP established

Sarhad Tourism Corporation (STC) as a public limited company to

promote tourism in the province.

The objectives of the STC included to improve the existing tourism

facilities and explore new ones and carry out developmental works in

an integrated, coordinated and comprehensive manner, so as to

preserve the environmental quality and achieve maximum efficiency.

The role of STC was defined to be a catalyst and help promote the

tourism industry through private sector. The involvement of private

sector will mobilize the enormous potential prevailing in this sector. It

was perceived that after an initial financial support the STC would

become a self-financing organization. This became a distant goal after

initial experience and Government's assistance was further sought on

limited basis. However, the ultimate goal to become self-financing is

still the underlying policy matter.

Fig. 8 shows the present organizational chart of STC, which clearly

indicates the need for an institutional strengthening, particularly

during the times to come due to its anticipated role in tourism

promotion and development. Fig.9 shows the proposed organizational

chart which is only indicative and needs careful review and in depth

study under a separate consultancy assignment before it is finally

approved and adopted. The proposed organizational chart shows

following new departments and cells to be added.

a) Registration and Licensing Section

This section will monitor the performance of the facilities existing in

the private sector including hotels, restaurants and tour operations. All

these facilities will be registered with this section and an annual

license to each facility will be issued. The renewal of the license will

depend on the performance of each facility during the previous year.

This section will have three cells, as follows:

i) Hotels

ii) Restaurants

iii) Tour operators

The above functions are presently carried out by the Deputy

Controller, Ministry of Tourism, Peshawar office. Now these functions

are proposed to be transfused to STC.

b) Coordination Section

Development is an integrated process. Development in tourism

essentially depends the development in many other

sectors of economy including roads, water supply,

sewerage, solid waste management, electricity, telephone, police,

post, health etc. Separate projects have ben proposed for various

infrastructure facilities and civic amenities. These projects will be

designed, planned and executed by a number of line departments.

STC needs a high degree of coordination with these line departments

to

Fig.8

Fig.9

ensure the provision of various infrastructure facilities and civic

amenities where the other tourism facilities have been proposed. It is

therefore proposed to establish a coordination section within STC for

this purpose.

c) Projects Section

A large number of tourism facilities have been proposed in this Master

Plan to be developed and located at various selected sites in the

Region. They include STC motels, STC restaurants, STC tourist hostels,

picnic spots, tourist facilitation centers, etc. It will be the

responsibility of this section to design the facilities, plan them and

supervise the execution of these projects. After the execution, this

section will be given the responsibility for O & M (operation &

maintenance) of all facilities. This section will have following different

cells;

i) Consultants Cell

ii) Project Design & Development Cell

iii) Project Maintenance Cell

d) Marking Section

This section will be responsible for all marketing and promotional

activities. This will have the following cells;

i) Publication and Distribution Cell

ii) STC quarterly Magazine Cell

iii) Audio Video Cell

e) Training Section

A variety of programmes have been proposed in the Master Plan to

organize, arrange and impart relevant education and training to

strengthen the tourism service sector as a human resource

development. This cell will arrange and organize various training

programmes and workshops for this purpose.

f) Transport Section

In order to provide efficient transport arrangements and to improve

the existing conditions by creating healthy competition, it is proposed

to establish STC transport in the Region. This section will be operated,

managed and maintained by the STC transport Section.

g) Tourist Facilities Section

A number of Tourist Facilitation Centers have been proposed is the

Master Plan to be located at key locations in the Region. This section

will be responsible to manage these centers.

19. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION19. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION

The implementation of the Master Plan and various project

components will be carried out as follows.

19.1 IMPLEMENTATION FRAMEWORK

A number of public and private agencies will be involved in the

implementation of various specific project components relating to the

respective responsibilities. These agencies can be broadly categorized

as follows:

1. Public Agencies

i. Road Projects : Highway

Department, C&W Department

ii. Water Supply

and Sewerage Projects : Public Health Engineering

Department.

iii. Solid Waste Collection

and Disposal Projects : Municipal Committees, Town

Committees

iv. Electrification Projects : WAPDA

v. Post Offices : Ministry of

Communications

vi. Telephone : Pakistan

Telecommunication Corporation.

vii. Police Stations : Home

Department

viii. Health Facilities : Health

Department

ix. Banks :

Commercial Banks

The above implementation framework however requires a high degree

of coordination. It is therefore proposed to establish a coordination cell

within STC which will liaison with the line developments involved in

the project implementation process one way or the other.

19.2 IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE

It is proposed that the implementation of the Master Plan takes place

in phases with activities of each phase integrated with the activities of

other phases in order to complement and supplement the activities .

Following are the activities proposed to commence and complete in

different phases. The overall phasing programme in based on the two

broad categories of the Immediate Action Programme (IAP) and the

Long Term Programme.

PHASE-I

19.2.1 Immediate Action Programme.

Immediate Action Programme is proposed for a period of first two

years and involves activities aimed at improvements and upgrading in

the existing tourism facilities without involving huge capital outlays. It

therefore, focusses more on adopting the regulatory measures.

Various activities proposed for the immediate action are as follows.

i. STC Strengthening.

It is a prerequisite to strengthen the institutional arrangements of STC

to play a stronger role to ensure the implementation of the Master

Plan. STC should expand gradually as and when required according to

the expansion of the work on the other components of the Master Plan

and to be integrated to other activities proposed in the Master Plan.

Some of the new sections in STC should be established right now

corresponding with the activities proposed as immediate actions.

However, the sections involved in the activities proposed in the long -

term plan should be established later.

ii. Licensing of Private Sector Activities.

The performance of various tourism facilities provided in the private

sector including hotels, restaurants, tour operators, tour guides etc. is

extremely poor in terms of both quantity and quality. There is no

mechanism to regulate and monitor these activities. It is proposed

that STC should be given the licensing authority which is presently

held with the Deputy Controller, Ministry of Tourism, Peshawar.

Inspectors should be appointed by STC to periodically and regularly

monitor the performance of the private sector activities in this regard.

iii. Marketing and Promotion Activities.

Marketing and Promotion of tourism is, as a matter of fact, a

continuous activity. It is proposed that some of the activities should

commence with immediate effect both at home and abroad. Main

emphasis during this phase should be given to designing, printing and

distribution of introductory leaflets, brochures book lets etc.

iv. Improvement of the infrastructure Facilities.

STC should establish contacts and coordinate with the line

departments in order to improve and upgrade the existing

infrastructure facilities in the region. This will mainly deal with the

implementation of the improvement/upgrading projects which have

been identified in this Master Plan.

v. Improvement of the Civic Amenities.

STC should establish contacts and coordinate with the line

departments in order to improve and upgrade the existing civic

amenities in the region. This will mainly deal with the implementation

of the improvement/upgrading projects which have been identified in

this Master Plan.

19.2.2 Long - Term Programme

The total span of the plan period of this Master Plan is proposed for 10

years. The Immediate Action Programme is proposed for 2 years, and

the remaining period of 8 years is considered for the long-term

programme.

It is envisaged that after completion of the immediate action

programme in 2 years, various activities will have gained momentum

and the environment will have been gained for the implementation of

the long - term plan. It is also proposed to carry out long-term plan is

two phases of 4 years each, as follows.

PHASE-II

Following activities are proposed for phase-II of the Master Plan and

the stage-I of the long-term plan.

i. STC Strengthening

It is proposed to fully complete the institutional strengthening of STC

which had commenced during the immediate action programme. This

will help STC to function fully and completely to steer various tourism

activities involved in the implementation of the Master Plan.

ii. Marketing and Promotion.

It is proposed to further expand the activities involved in the

marketing and promotion plan as suggested earlier. While the press

advertisements, hoarding and the printing and distribution of the

literature was proposed in Phase-I, it is proposed to commence the

publication of the STC Magazine in Phase-II. The other activities

proposed to take place during this phase are the use of tele media,

video, and the satellite programmes.

iii. Development of new tourist facilities.

It is proposed to start building and development of new tourist

facilities as proposed in the Master Plan in the areas which are already

established tourist attractions or in areas located in the close vicinity

during this phase. This will involve the development of new hotels,

motels, restaurants, picnic spots, road side facilities, and others. this

should be done in an integrated manner to become actually an

extension of the existing facilities.

iv. Development/Extension of the new Infrastructure

Facilities.

It is proposed to provide new infrastructure facilities including water

supply, sewerage, electricity etc. to the areas where new tourist

facilities have been developed during this phase. This should also be

done in an integrated manner as an extension to the existing facilities.

v. Development of new Civic Amenities.

Civic amenities including the police, health and other facilities should

be provided in areas where new tourist facilities have been

built during this phase in an integrated manner.

vi. Human Resource Development

Some of the training programmes and workshops should commence

during this stage including the formal education of higher level studies

available in Pakistan.

vii. STC Transportation

In order to respond to the immediate need for appropriate

transportation arrangements for the tourist movement in the area, it

is proposed to commence the STC transport during this phase, as

mentioned in the Master Plan.

viii. Private Sector Involvement

It is proposed to take necessary steps involved in the process of

mobilization of the private sector to participate in the development,

implementation and operation of projects identified in the Master Plan.

This will involve the preparation of various feasibility reports and

establishment of contacts with the private sector.

PHASE-III

Following activities have been proposed to fully and completely

implement the Master Plan.

i. Development of the Remaining Tourist Facilities.

It is proposed to develop the remaining tourist facilities during this last

phase, as proposed in the Master Plan. They include the development

of new hotels, motels, restaurants, picnic spots etc. It will include all

identified locations : near as well remote.

ii Development of new Infrastructure Facilities.

It is proposed to provide all the infrastructure facilities to all the areas

where new tourist facilities have been developed as proposed in the

Master Plan during this phase in an integrated manner.

iii. Development of new Civic Amenities.

It is proposed to develop new civic amenities to the areas where new

tourist facilities have been developed during this phase, as proposed

in the Master Plan, in an integrated manner.

iv. Marketing and Promotion.

It is proposed to further expand the area of marketing and promotion

activities during this last phase, and the international market should

also be fully covered in this regard.

v. Human Resource Development

The activities in the training and formal education should be further

expanded during this phase and potential candidates should be sent

to the local as well as foreign institutions for this purpose.