CHAKWAL: In a move that promotes interfaith harmony and peace, Pakistan on Thursday launched a residential facility in Katas Raj for Hindu pilgrims from India, who visit the holy site twice a year – in November-December for Kartik Pooja and in February-March for Shivaratri. The residential blocks built at a cost of Rs183.510 million over the past twenty-two months consist of thirty-six rooms (10x12 size) with attached washrooms, a kitchen, and a dining hall and were inaugurated by Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Chaudhry Salik Hussain. On the occasion, Salik Hussain said, “Today, we are gathered at that place which is 5,000 years old and is the most sacred place for Hindus. I am shocked to know that only two hundred pilgrims from India are allowed to visit this place.” He added he would try to raise the number of pilgrims allowed to travel to this site. “Even if India does not increase the number of Pakistani pilgrims to Ajmer, we would increase the number of Indian pilgrims. I think there should be no limit in this regard,” he maintained. He said that his ministry was trying its best for the promotion of interfaith harmony. Besides Indian pilgrims, Hindus from Pakistan and other tourists can also stay at these residential blocks, the minister said. In the past, the pilgrims had to stay at a nearby college. Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) Additional Secretary Saifullah Khokhar explained that as per treaties between Pakistan and India, only two hundred Hindu pilgrims from India could visit Katas Raj twice a year while two hundred Muslims from Pakistan could visit the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer. On the other hand, about 3,000 Sikhs from India visit their holy places in Pakistan four times a year, he said and added that talks were underway between the two countries to enhance the number of Hindu and Muslim pilgrims to at least 3,000. Krishan Lal Sharma, president of the Pakistan Hindu Mandir Management Committee, said: “Today is the most important day of my life. This place is the most sacred place for us”, he said and added that Jinnah’s Pakistan is all about diversity and interfaith harmony. Salik Hussain and the ETPB officials were alarmed to notice that cement plants operating in the area did not comply with the order of the Supreme Court which banned the extraction of groundwater. The SC had taken up a suo moto notice of a Dawn report on the drying up of the sacred pond of Katas Raj in 2017. “As per the agreement, the cement plants were bound to bring water from the Jhelum River, but they are still extracting it from the ground,” ETPB Chairman Attaur Rehman said. Minister Salik vowed that he would take up this issue. It may be noted that due to the extensive use of groundwater by three cement plants operating in the area, the water level has plummeted to alarming levels. The holy pond at Katas Raj has one cement plant quite adjacent to it. The pond has been left completely dried twice: once in 2012 and then in 2017. After the top court notice, the pond, which once irrigated nearby gardens and supplied water to surrounding villages, was now being filled with the help of waterbores. On Thursday, it gave an impression as if its natural spring had been revived, but water to fill up the pond came from a nearby borehole.