Rawalpindi Commissioner Muhammad Mahmood inaugurated the Global Active Cities Project Pakistan on Wednesday. 

The Rawalpindi division will hold various sports and outdoor activities to promote a healthy lifestyle.

The Rawalpindi commissioner said the project envisages promotion of sports and outdoor activities in all four districts of the Rawalpindi division to encourage the citizens for adopting a healthy lifestyle.

The inauguration ceremony of the project was organised at Rawalpindi Commissioner Office. The commissioner as well as the Rawalpindi deputy commissioner (DC) Anwarul Haq took part in the physical training session with district employees.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Syed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari said the government was striving to foster healthy lifestyle among people, particularly youth, through promotion of sports and games across the country.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of Global Active Cities Project, launched by the district administration of Rawalpindi, he said Prime Minister Imran Khan attached great importance to the promotion of healthy lifestyle in the country through games and sports.

Congratulating Rawalpindi Commissioner Mahmood over the project launch, he said the officer had set an example for the entire country by taking this initiative, adding “It is an honour for the country that three districts of Rawalpindi division have become a part of the international framework under which sports and healthy lifestyle will be promoted in the society.”

He said sports would be promoted in Rawalpindi division under the Global Active Cities project and people would be encouraged towards healthy living. “Our religion also teaches us to live a healthy life. Obesity, overeating and sluggishness are bad habits that have no place in our religion,” he remarked.

Former test cricketer and fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar said that Mahmood was an officer who adored sports and healthy lifestyle, adding that he was the first commissioner of Rawalpindi who invited him in the commissioner’s office for physical exercise.

He said he used to walk from Dhok Kala Khan to Kachehri Chowk, besides riding a bicycle on the same route for physical fitness.

Later during the media briefing, Commissioner Mahmood and DC Haq said that Rawalpindi was the first district in Pakistan and third in Asia to kick off this project.

They elaborated that there would be cycling events, marathons, and other sports events in Rawalpindi under the Global Active Cities Project.

Further, the Rawalpindi commissioner said that the biggest issue was traffic. For the resolution of it, he said that Rawalpindi Ring Road (R3) was being built while other underpasses on Kutcheri and Ammar Chowks along with parking plazas near commercial markets.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 26^th, 2020.