Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has determined the price tag of the ancestral homes of legendary Bollywood actors Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor in the heart of this city at Rs 80,56,000 and Rs 1,50,00,000 respectively.
The provincial government in September decided to acquire their ancestral homes to conserve the historic buildings which are in dilapidated situation and facing demolition threat.
The two buildings, positioned in the heart of this northern Pakistani city, have been declared as national heritage.
Deputy Commissioner of Peshawar Muhammad Ali Asghar, following a report of the Communication and Works Department, fixed the price tag of Dilip Kumar’s 4 Marla residence for Rs 80,56,000 (USD 50,259) though that of Raj Kapoor’s six Marla residence for Rs 1,50,00,000 (USD 93,529).
Marla, a regular unit of region utilised in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, is thought of as equal to 272.25 square feet or 25.2929 square metres.
The archaeology division has sent a formal request to the provincial government for releasing more than Rs 2 crore for getting each the historic buildings, exactly where the two greats of the Indian cinema have been born and raised in their early days prior to the Partition.
Raj Kapoor’s ancestral dwelling, recognized as Kapoor Haveli, is situated in the fabled Qissa Khwani Bazar. It was constructed amongst 1918 and 1922 by the legendary actor’s grandfather Dewan Basheswarnath Kapoor. Raj Kapoor and his uncle Trilok Kapoor have been born in the developing. It has been declared national heritage by the provincial government.
Veteran actor Dilip Kumar’s more than one hundred-year-old ancestral residence is also positioned in the identical locality. The residence is in shambles and was declared as national heritage in 2014 by the then Nawaz Sharif government.
The owners of the two buildings produced several attempts in the previous to demolish them for constructing industrial plazas in view of their prime place but all such moves have been stopped as the archaeology division wanted to preserve them, maintaining in view their historic value.
However, the owner of Kapoor Haveli, Ali Qadar, in the previous stated that he did not want to demolish the developing and produced several contacts with the archaeology division officials to safeguard and preserve this historic structure which is a national pride. The owner demanded Rs 200 crore from the provincial government to sell it out to the government.
In 2018, the Pakistan government decided to convert the Kapoor Haveli into a museum, heeding to a request by Rishi Kapoor who died this year in Mumbai. However, the announcement to this impact did not materialise.
There are about 1,800 historic structures in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which are more than 300 years old.