Khuzdar and Kalat as Tourist Resorts.
By: Tarique Khan Javed
President, Overseas Pakistani Investors Forum.
Dated 28th Nov 2008
My extended tour of Khuzdar and Kalat during Ramzan has convinced me that Khuzdar and Kalat are best escape from heat in the nearby plains.
Khuzdar at height of 4,600 feet and Kalat at 6,500 with nearly Harbui at 9,500 are the nearest and cheapest summer resorts for middle class families of teeming millions on the plains of Sindh and Baluchistan coastal area.
Relative costs of trips to summer resorts:
With escalating cost taking families to Murree and adjoining area have become out of reach for middle class families, of this Region. Air line, Train or even Bus ticket cost from Rs 2,500 to Rs 20,000 per person upto Islamabad; some 1,500 KM away. The hotels in Murree on the average cost Rs 1,500 per day while meals and local transportation are also expensive.
On the other hand a Bus ticket to Khuzdar some 400 KM away is around Rs 500 while that to Kalat some 650 KM away cost 650 per person from Karachi. From Shahdadkot one can reach Khuzdar for Rs 300 only, through Mulla pass.
Hotel like Faisal Hotel in Khuzdar only charge 100 to 200. The Rest House in Kalat only charge 200 per day. In Khuzdar Faisal and Al Saudia Hotels built by Overseas Pakistanis are large hotels with 3-4 floors, shopping Mall and Restaurants. Each has about 100 rooms. However due to paucity of visitors only a small portion of the Hotel is in use. On the main road Khuzdar also has a PTDC motel with only 4 rooms with daily charge of Rs 250.
In Kalat on the other hand there are no Hotels at all upto now. There are very poor Musafir Khana charging Rs 40-60 per day or the 4 roomed Government Rest House (Dhak Bangla) charging Rs 200 per night.
Khuzdar – a town at a height of 4,600 feet:
Located 400 KM away from Karachi the trip to Khuzdar takes about 5 hours by bus. A major portion of the road is in the process of being upgraded to international level with adequate bridges for rain water to pass underneath. In the past road were swept away after major rain. Once the road is completed the journey time should reduce to 3 hours by car and 4 hours by public bus. From near the town of Bela the impressive mountain ranges become visible and appear like a formidable wall. The road twists and turns to gradually climb up the mountain. Once the height of 3,000 feet is reached the weather starts changing in to dry, crisp and relatively colder conditions. Gorges and water falls on the sides give a magnificent look. Many people stop by the road side to enjoy cool water of water fall and ponds. The first town on the mountains is the town of Wad. This is a long valley with small farms and houses. This town is center of Mengal tribe.
The next town some 50 Km away is that of Khuzdar located in the middle of a long valley. Khuzdar is by far the largest town on the Region with several institutions like Police
Training Center and Engineering University. It has a large market and number of bus stations going to Shahdadkot, Quetta and Karachi.
My stay at Faisal Hotel in Khuzdar was very pleasant. From the balcony I had a beautiful view of the valley and river and beyond it a huge mountain. The slopes to the mountain was
inviting and early in the morning I walked across the town to cross the river and entered an extended village beyond which was the large compound of Engineering University. Once out
of the village I found my self in a massive plain leading to the slope of the mountain. On the way I discovered very good looking and strange pieces of stone which would be of lot of interest to geologists. Near the foot of the mountain I found several nomad families making their breakfast and getting ready to take their flocks for grazing. From the slope of the mountain the view of Khuzdar was spectacular. I looked like a bowl of greenery in the midst of dry and brown huge mountains all around, I returned to the hotel taking a long detour to discover lot of farm land along the river and after crossing the river at a point where there was water flowing reentered the main town from the North. The farms and orchids produce vegetables, rice, wheat, apple etc, at subsistence level. Most families rely on income from jobs of male family members in Pakistan and abroad. The standard of living appeared to better than average Pakistani. Most ladies do not put up veil and sport very attractive Blochi dresses with embroidery and glass work. Generally people dress well and children go to Government schools in inform on buses. Girls attend school in large numbers.
The long walk, during which I was greeted by locals many times, became a pleasant and life defining experience, which I will cherish always.
Kalat a town at a height of 6,500 feet:
From Khuzdar, Kalat is just 250 KM away on an excellent road. So one can easily reach it in three hours on HIACE, which ply at hours interval. The journey is smooth and very nice. The slope is so gradual that one does not feel that they are going up 2000 feet up the mountain. One beautiful scenery is replaced by another as the vehicle takes gentle turns. The day I was traveling, it was cloudy and while we were half way, light rain started which made the scenery more enchanting. The old music played by the driver transformed us in a mystic world and I lost track of time and space. After a short stay at Surab, which is the highest point in the region at 7,000 feet and where the road coming from Panjour joins the main road, we continued northwards. The scenery got even better and within an hour we reached Kalat.
The entrance to Kalat from south, with its old ruin town called Mirri on the right hand side hill and a shrine of Ghoos Pak on the left side cone shaped hill are remarkable places, worth visiting. When we reached large number of tourist were thronging these historical sites. Both the spots are quite high from the road and circular roads lead o them. Mirri was destroyed in 1935 earth quake and is a painful place to visit. With toppled, inclined and partially buried houses, shops and the large fort, one starts feeling uneasy thinking how in seconds the flourishing town was destroyed. Even in ruins one can appreciate the grandeur of the town in its hay days. Mirri was the seat of Ruler of Kalat who ruled all of Baluchistan from Makran to Lesbela and from Jhal Maksi to Dera Bughti and in the North West upto Nushki.
The present day Kalat however is a very poor and disappointing place. One gets a feeling that time has stood still in the place since a longtime. Besides the British build structures which are now occupied by FC, Police and Civil administration there is hardly any building
or property worth mentioning. The disposed Rulers present residence is located in the north of the town in a low lying area and is not impressive.
There are no hotels in the town even of one or two class. All they have is two three low grade Musafir Khanas charging only Rs 40-60 per night. I was lucky to find a room in the
only decent accommodation of the town- the Dakh Bangla or Government Guest House charging Rs 200 per night. The rest house has only four very spacious rooms but has a large lawn with lots of flower and fruit trees and a good in house restaurant manned by a very experienced cook.
Kalat has alpine climate and thus flower and fruit grow naturally. A dry river passes from its middle and is the source of it water which is drawn through water pumps. I was told that the water table is going down with the passage of time thus increasing the cost fruit production. A dam is probably required to improve water retention.
Kalat is purely an orchard town with many large and small orchards around the town. In these apple, grape, strawberry, peach and other fruits are grown. A walk though the farms was a pleasant experience. There is no fruit processing plant in the town and all produce is sent to Karachi and other parts of the Country. Those not involved in fruit production are involved in animal husbandry and small scale vegetable and grain production.
There is an urgent need for construction of PTDC motel in the town followed by private hotels on the pattern of Khuzdar. With cooler climate Kalat is a better place to stay in summer. Therefore building hotels here make robust economic sense.
Kalat Tourism Development Co (KTDC)
The best way to go about is to create a Public limited Co by the name of Kalat Tourism Development Co (KTDC). The capital of such a Co could be Rs 500 million. The Co could be listed on KSE and Government of Pakistan and Baluchistan could buy 25% share each. Out of the remaining 50%, 25% could be reserved for people of Kalat and only 25% sold to normal investor. Chairmanship and Founding Directorship may be reserved for local shareholders, who would ensure that most jobs created by the Co goes to locals.
KTDC after establishing a two star hotel with 40 rooms, charging say 300-500 per day may expand and build a smaller 20 rooms hotel in Harbui Mountain some 25 KM away. This Juniper forest green and very cool area at a height 9,500 would be paradise for people escaping scorching summer on the plains around.
Government should assist in upgrading the road to Harbui Mountain, to a all weather road like Murree or Auybia. Currently the road is in a very bad shape.
Political unrest in the Area:
A visitor can see the anti government wall choking all across this Region. More so in Kalat than in Khuzdar. The Area is in the sway of BNP of Mr. Akhtar Mengal. BNP and other nationalist party flags are everywhere. Will the nationalist favour tourism development in the Area or oppose it is a pertinent question. Most will say they will oppose it, however based on my extensive discussion with grass root, nationalist political activists like Mr. Jan Nangara, who own one of the few Musafir Khana, by the family name, BNP and other nationalist parties will not oppose such a move; rather welcome it. Currently town is very poor with very limited job opportunity. Even 10-20 well paid jobs in the hotels would be most welcomed by the poor local population. Knowing this any party which has people’s welfare as an objective should not oppose a hotel owned by the public.
