Suicide spot: PHA will inspect Minar-e-Pakistan to install railing

By Shahnawaz Khan

LAHORE: A team of Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) will visit the Minar-e-Pakistan in a couple of days to examine the possibility of installing a railing around the upper portion of the 196-foot high historical monument, Raja Basharat, provincial minister for law and local government, told Daily Times on Friday.

Basharat said that the PHA would submit a detailed report and further process would start within a couple of weeks.

He said that the material to be used for the railing would be similar to the monument’s material, keeping in view the aesthetic value of the monument.

He said that a large number of people had given proposals like installation of a railing around the upper part of the Minar-e-Pakistan, closing the top part of it for tourists and improvement of security around it.

Police sources confirmed that four people committed suicide by jumping of the Minar-e-Pakistan in 2005. They claimed that around 26 people, including three women, committed suicide by jumping from Minar-e-Pakistan.

Rashid Rasool, Minar-e-Pakistan security incharge, told Daily Times that the administration of the Minar-e-Pakistan sealed its upper part, and deputed two guards and police constables on the ground floor about a year ago to avoid any untoward incident. Rasool said that police and security guards arrested four people including a woman when they were about to jump off the top and handed them over to the Lorry Adda police. He said the people who committed suicide were all between 16 to 30 years old and three of them were mentally handicapped.

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