TDCP completes tourist resort in Cholistan ahead of jeep rally.

BAHAWALPUR -- The Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab (TDCP) has completed the construction of a tourist resort, costing over Rs20 million, near the historic Derawar Fort, about 70kms from here in Cholistan.

The resort has been completed ahead of the 18th desert jeep rally, an annual event, due to be held in Cholistan in February, 2023. The divisional and district administrations have already geared up all the attached departments and agencies to make the event successful.

According to officials, the tourist resort was planned by Dr Raheel Siddiqui, a former bureaucrat, also the founder of the jeep rally. They say Dr Raheel, as Bahawalpur executive district officer (finance), along with then TDCP's managing director Irfan Ali, also prepared the blue print of the resort several years ago.

Both officers had taken the initiative of holding the first desert jeep rally during 2003-04, which has now become a regular feature of the area, the officials say. 'At that time, it was no less than a challenge to hold such an event in the desert area and nobody expected it to become an annual event that will help promote a soft image of Pakistan worldwide, along with projecting Cholistani culture,' an official says.

The local administration has already begun the preliminary arrangements for holding the 18th jeep rally. In this connection, Divisional Commissioner Raja Jahangir Anwar and Deputy Commissioner Zahid Parvaiz Wariach recently twice visited the venue of the jeep rally near Derawar Fort and issued necessary instructions to the subordinate staff for repairs of the roads leading to the fort from Bahawalpur and provision of other basic...