After ₹2.5cr revamp, Amritsar’s Ram Bagh Gate closed for visitors within two months
AMRITSAR : After the tourism department spent ₹2.5 crore on its restoration, the 240year-old Ram Bagh Gate was closed for visitors within two months of its reopening.
The Gate, located on the route from Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s summer palace at the Ram Bagh garden to Harmandar Sahib now lies with its gates locked.
Lok Virsa Museum, thrown open to public after the tourism department reopened the Ram Bagh Gate in October, has also been closed.
According to records of the district tourism department, only 25,000 tourists have visited the heritage site since it was reopened last year.
“The museum gate was shut on December 2, 2018 by the municipal corporation. Despite provision of free entry, number of visitors was dwindling every day,” claimed caretaker Prem Kumar and added that the museum was not cleaned for over a month.
‘GATE A PALE SHADOW OF ITS GLORIOUS SELF’
Conservation architect Gurmeet Rai, who designed the Amritsar heritage sites rejuvenation said the site was closed due to lack of workers for its maintenance.
“The restoration started in 2007 when the police station was relocated. From 2016, it took two years to completely restore the Gate. It is sad that despite putting in hard work and money, it got shut in no time”.
Rai alleged that the state government has no tools and laws for development and protection of heritage sites. “Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu should pass a resolution at the state level to give special designation to historic sites so that they can be protected. The heritage can only be conserved by community and cultural development specialists. The gate is now just a pale shadow of its glorious self,” she added.
GATE TO REOPEN WITHIN A WEEK: MC
On closing of the Gate, MC commissioner Sonali Giri said there was no guide to maintain the heritage site. “Paintings and other equipment from the museum were stolen by visitors. For its protection, we will assign security guards at the museum. The tenders for the same have been floated,” she said.
The MC commissioner added that the process will be completed within a week.
“We will have caretakers in a week after which the gate will be reopened”.
Initially, builders took care of the gate and museum after its inauguration.
THE PROJECT
The government had spent ₹2.5 crore on restoration of the heritage site under Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) of the National Institute of Urban Affairs of the Union ministry of urban development and the Amritsar municipal corporation (MC).
After restoration, the museum was thrown open to public in the presence of local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu and municipal corporation commissioner Sonali Giri on October 12 last year.