ANDROON SHEHAR: Walled city of Lahore

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Androon Shehar Lahore or Old Lahore is the heart of Lahore. Its cultural property is in the form of forts, gateways, mosques, residential buildings, tombs and palaces. Walled city and the thirteen gates is another historical heritage we have. The gates are named after the places they are located in or after a significant building in their vicinity.  Old Lahore is facing plenty of problems to which the government of Pakistan has been greatly ignorant.  The problem of infrastructure in old Lahore is one of the major economic issues there.  People in the walled city have just adopted themselves to the way of life in old Lahore. 

Life in Androon Lahore is difficult and different compared to the life in new Lahore. The infrastructure facilities are not provided which is a major hindrance for the people there. Infrastructure facilities include proper sewerage system, roads, electricity, telephone lines, transportation and proper waste disposal. Infrastructure facilities like proper waste disposal and sewerage system are of little or no existence in the walled city. People residing in these areas are the only ones to suffer and they complain that more attention is being paid by the government to the people in the areas of Lahore such as, Defence, Gulberg, Cantt, Johar Town, etc. 

In this modern time little or no work could be carried out without electricity. Pakistan has been suffering load shedding for the past 3 years. Cities like Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad suffer less load shedding compared to the other cities in Pakistan. The average amount of load shedding in Lahore is 8 to 10 hours in a day. In the walled city it is 14 to 16, this explains the difference. Electricity results as a major hindrance in their work.  

People claimed that several issues affect their income out of which electricity and narrow roads play the most important role. Shops that are a little large in size use generators, which itself is not feasible because of the rising prices of petrol, and others use ups or work without electricity. No proper transportation facilities are there. Car parking is a major problem. People have to park their cars on main roads which again results in traffic jams. There sales keep low because people avoid coming into the market without their vehicles. The sales vary every month due to which workers hired are not paid fixed salary. Many of the people even quit their business in search of jobs because of the loss they suffer and many start duel jobs. 

A major infrastructural facility that abides many of us to enter the area is the proper sewerage system and waste disposal. No waste disposal facilities are there. As the roads are narrow the waste is just thrown out of the house or in a nearby place that becomes a waste disposal area for many living there. The odor of the waste is unbearable.  Despite it being a business hub, Androon Shehr Lahore is despised of the modern luxuries of he world

Walled city is a part of Lahore and the technological advances should be made there too along with the advances in new Lahore. There should and must be no distinction.