LAHORE: The Punjab government has proposed building an underground parking plaza between Data Darbar and Bhati Gate, one of Lahore’s busiest and most congested localities.
According to the proposal, the plaza will be built on 22 kanals of land situated between these two landmarks. A summary seeking approval for the construction has been forwarded to the Punjab chief minister, and the project will move forward only once it receives formal clearance from the relevant authorities.
The Lahore Development Authority (LDA) and its Traffic Engineering and Planning Agency (TEPA) have estimated the cost of the project is almost more than Rs8.225 billion. The LDA director general has also requested that the project be included in the current financial year’s development programme, along with the allocation of funds required for construction.
Design and Capacity
Under the proposal, the parking plaza would be built in three underground levels. Its planned features include a modern Intelligent Transportation System (ITS), automated parking facilities, and charging stations for electric vehicles.
Once completed, the facility is expected to accommodate around 600 cars and 1,700 motorcycles. Officials say it is intended to serve pilgrims and visitors to Data Darbar, as well as residents and business owners in the surrounding, where street parking has long strained the narrow roads of the inner city.
A decision on which agency will execute the construction is still pending. The government is reportedly considering assigning the work to TEPA rather than the LDA’s engineering wing, though officials have not confirmed a final arrangement.
Part of a Wider Redevelopment Push
The proposal comes amid a broader redevelopment effort already under way around Data Darbar and Bhati Chowk. A three-lane underpass at Bhati Chowk, spanning more than 65 kanals, has been under construction since earlier january, with officials reporting in early May that piling work was nearlycompletion and that overall progress on the underpass had been 40 percent completed. A parallel project to remodel and expand the Data Darbar precinct — includes wider pedestrian walkways, upgraded building facades, fountains and Islamic calligraphy features — reported to be around 70 percent complete at this time.
The new parking plaza proposal is described by officials as a continuation of this redevelopment push, following directly from the Bhati Chowk underpass and Data Darbar upgrade projects.
It also fits into a larger provincial plan to expand underground parking across Lahore’s Walled City. The Punjab government had earlier approved construction of underground parking plazas at several historic gates, including Mochi Gate, Sheranwala Gate, Taxali Gate, Delhi Gate, Shah Alam Gate and Bhati Gate, with two of these reported to already be under construction. Provincial officials have also spoken of extending the network to a seventh site at Bhati Gate as part of a wider strategy to modernise parking in Lahore’s old city while preserving its heritage character, and have signalled that similar plazas could eventually be proposed for other historic cities in Punjab.
Status
The Data Darbar–Bhati Gate plaza remains a proposal at this stage. It has not yet received the Punjab chief minister’s approval, not any construction timeline has been announced, and funding is contingent on its inclusion in the current fiscal year’s development programme.
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