Muharraq's only remaining groundwater spring has been saved from the bulldozers and will be preserved as a natural heritage site.

The owner of land on which Ain Rayyah, in Dair, is located has now been banned from developing the site following the intervention of the Muharraq Municipal Council, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

Council chairman Mohammed Al Sinan described it as a place of historic importance and said it was once a popular meeting place hundreds of years ago.

He added that Works, Municipalities and Urban Planning Affairs Minister Essam Khalaf had already approved a plan to freeze a building permit for the site and purchase the land for the council.

“This is the only spring in Muharraq as the rest were all demolished,” said Al Sinan.

“Now that the proposal has been approved, the municipal council will own the land after buying it from the owner.”

A letter has also been sent to the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (BACA) informing it of the decision and suggesting that it should be listed as a historic landmark.

“We are presenting this to BACA as a gift,” added Al Sinan.

“We hope it is turned into a historical place in the near future.

“The place has to be developed and revamped, while leaving the spring as it is.”

The land on which the spring is located, which measures around 5,000 sq m, had been earmarked for a new residential development.

However, residents appealed to the council to save Muharraq’s only remaining spring.

“This land shouldn’t have been sold (to a private buyer) in the first place,” said Al Sinan.

“Probably no-one knew the well was located there or that it was historically important when it was sold by the Royal Court.

“This doesn’t matter now that we have got approval (to preserve the spring) and I know all the people who complained about the threat of losing the site will be happy.”

The council is also planning to acquire two pieces of land adjacent to the plot on which the spring is located to make room for a conservation 
project.

Owners of those plots will be compensated by the Muharraq Municipality.

“We need space to turn the place into a beautiful historical site and therefore we have to use the area around it,” explained Al Sinan. - TradeArabia News Service