PAKISTAN'S Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government has handed over Rs 23 million (£105,722) to Peshawar's deputy commissioner for purchasing the ancestral houses of legendary Indian actors Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor located in the heart of the city to convert them into museums.
The amount was released to the deputy commissioner by the archaeology department as final notices were issued to the owners of both the historic buildings for their procurement.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s archaeology director Abdus Samad said the government would take custody of both the houses shortly and start work to restore the structures in their original shape.
He said the government would preserve both the buildings to make people aware of the contribution made by Kumar and Kapoor to the film industry.
The government had fixed the price for the purchase of Kapoor's 6.25-marla and Kumar's four-marla houses for Rs 15 m (£68,949) and Rs 8 m (£36,772), respectively, with plans to convert them into museums.
Marla, a traditional unit of area used in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, is equal to 272.25 square feet or 25.2929 square metres.
While Kapoor Haveli's owner Ali Qadir demanded Rs 200 m (£919,324), the owner of Kumar's ancestral house, Gul Rehman Mohmand, said the government should purchase it at the market rate of Rs 35 m (£160,881).
Kapoor's ancestral home, known as Kapoor Haveli, is situated in the fabled Qissa Khwani Bazar. It was built between 1918 and 1922 by the legendary actor's grandfather Dewan Basheswarnath Kapoor.
Kapoor and his uncle Trilok Kapoor were born in the building. It has been declared a national heritage by the provincial government.
Kumar's over 100-year-old ancestral house is also located in the same locality. The house is in a shambles and was declared a national heritage in 2014 by the then Nawaz Sharif government.
The owners of the two buildings made several attempts in the past to demolish them for constructing commercial plazas given their prime location but all such moves were stopped as the archaeology department wanted to preserve them, keeping in view their historic importance.
