Stone to be laid near ‘darshan asthan’ at Dera Baba Nanak
NOV 26 EVENT State govt holds meeting to take stock of preparations for the President’s visit; minister Randhawa does not rule out making existing 1.7km passage from town to darshan asthan a part of corridor
WHILE THE SPOT FOR FOUNDATION STONE WAS FINALISED, REST OF THE PLAN WILL BE MADE BY UNION GOVT; A CENTRAL TEAM TO BE VISIT DERA BABA NANAK SOON
AMRITSAR/BATALA: The foundation stone of the much-awaited corridor to Kartarpur Sahib will be laid near the ‘darshan asthan’, along the international border in Indian territory at Dera Baba Nanak, the state government said on Friday.
President Ram Nath Kovind is to lay the foundation stone, at the spot from where devotees watch the holy shrine from a binocular, on November 26.
The decision comes a day after India and Pakistan announced that they will build a corridor on their respective sides to let Sikh pilgrims visit the iconic Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur on the banks of the river Ravi in the neighbouring country. The three-km corridor has been a long-pending demand of the Sikh community.
Punjab jails minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa chaired a meeting on the arrangements with officials of the Gurdaspur administration, the Border Security Force (BSF) and the officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Friday. Gurdaspur deputy commissioner Vipul Ujjwal told HT, “The venue of the pandal and the spot for the foundation stone have been finalised and the rest of the plan will be made by the union government. A Central team will be visiting Dera Baba Nanak.”
Randhawa did not rule out the possibility of converting the existing passage from Dera Baba Nanak town to the ‘darshan sthal’ at the border, a distance of 1.7 km, as part of the corridor.
However, this will require both the countries to be in agreement. The existing passage is 22 foot wide.
“In case, this passage is converted to a part of the corridor, it would be widened to 56 foot and beautified,” the minister added. On the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) offering to construct the corridor on its own expense, Randhawa said, “No government will give such an assignment to any non-government body.”
On August 27, the Punjab assembly, led by chief minister Amarinder Singh, had unanimously passed a resolution asking the Central government to pursue with Pakistan the issue of opening of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor during the 550th birthday celebrations of the first Sikh master, Guru Nanak.