Ahmedabad, 21 July, 2014

A four-member delegation from Pakistan on Monday visited the Sabarmati Riverfront (SR) project, to replicate it in Lahore on river Ravi.

The visit is touted to be on the behest of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, after he learnt about the major development initiative undertaken by his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had shown interest in the SR project after he learnt about it and started pushing the officials to visit it at the earliest.

“For now we have come to visit this river project only, but people of Pakistan are interested in Gujarat’s economic growth model too, and I think a separate team may pay visit for that or we may invite a team from Gujarat,”Lahore Commissioner Rashid Mehmood Langrial, who heads the delegation, told reporters during his visit to the riverfront here.

He said the Ravi river project is close to heart of Pakistan Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif.

“We have come here to study the good practices followed in the project, as the conditions here and in Lahore are almost similar,” He told reporters.

“We have been studying riverfront development projects in different parts as we found that conditions here and back in our country were similar, so we came here to study the project. River Ravi is also not a perennial river (like Sabarmati). Developing such a riverfront here is a good gift given to the city of Ahmedabad by the AMC (Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation),” he told reporters.

“We will study the environment impact, water level requirement (as Ravi and Sabarmati are not perennial rivers), structural details and learn from the experience here,” he said.

AMC officials led by AMC Deputy Municipal Commissioner M Thenerassan explained them about the project at length. The delegation members also took a high speed boat ride on the Sabarmati river. The delegation will stay here for two days.

The delegation comprises Langrial, Lahore Development Authority (LDA) Director-General Ahad Khan Cheema, LDA’s strategic policy unit chief Moazzam Sipra and Mustafa Kamal Chaudhry, a technical expert/consultant on urban infrastructure projects.