JEHLUM: Prime Minister Imran Khan has inaugurated the heritage trail at Nadana Fort to promote tourism and generate job opportunities for the coming generations.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony at Nandana Fort in district Jehlum on Sunday, he said preservation of heritage and tourism sites is necessary to apprise the future generation about rich cultural and historical assets of Pakistan.

He said unfortunately, we did not develop and preserve our archaeological sites in the country.

He said recent discovery of a 40-feet long statue of sleeping Buddha from Haripur shows rich cultural heritage of Pakistan.

Imran Khan said we have to protect these sites for our coming generations and the world to attract tourists from across the globe as tourism is a big source of employment and earning revenue. He said salt range of Pakistan is still unexplored.

The Prime Minister also announced to develop Baghaan Wala area as modern village of the area to protect heritage sites and provide better facilities to the tourists. 

It is pertinent to mention that imminent Muslim Scientist Al-Biruni had selected this area to measure radius of the planet Earth.

Imran Khan also interacted with the local people and listened to their problems.

Responding to a demand of the local people, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar assured that all the problems being faced by the people of Jhelum will be solved on priority basis.

Minister for Science and Technology Chaudhary Fawad Hussain and Prime Minister's Special Assistant on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Zulfiqar Hussain Bukhari were also present on the occasion.

It may be added that there are six other important historical and national heritage sites in the vicinity of Nandana Fort, including Nandana Temple, Katas Temple, Khewra Salt Mines, Malut Fort, Malut Temple and Takht Babri. These sites will be part of the Heritage Trail and tourists will be able to visit these locations together.

The Prime Minister is keen to preserve and conserve heritage sites and to convert them into international tourism attractions.

Under the Prime Minister's vision, places are being identified across the country to highlight Pakistan's history and national heritage. The promotion of tourism will also bring economic benefits to the local population.