Naidu to lay project foundation stone today
DERA BABA NANAK/BATALA: Even as there is no clarity on the spot where corridor to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur (Pakistan) will be aligned on the Indian side, vice-president Venkaiah Naidu will lay the virtual foundation stone at Mann village near Dera Baba Nanak on Monday.
The ceremony will also be attended by Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh, Union ministers, Punjab ministers, SGPC office-bearers and Akali Dal leaders. Public works department minister Vijay Inder Singla, jail minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar will also attend the ceremony.
As per the invitations issued by ministry of road transport and highways and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Punjab governor VP Singh Badnore, Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Union minister of state for social justice and empowerment Vijay Sampla, Union minister of state (independent charge) for housing and urban affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, former CM Parkash Singh Badal and SAD president Sukhbir Badal will also be present.
Naidu will arrive at Shri Guru Ramdas Jee international Airport, Amritsar, by 10.25am, from where he take a chopper to Dera Baba Nanak and return to Amritsar by 12.45pm.
On his facebook page, Sukhbir announced that he, along with the party leadership, will take part in ardas at Gurdwara Dera Baba Nanak at 8am on Monday, from where he will leave for the venue of ceremony on foot.
CONFUSION OVER MONDAY’S EVENT
There was confusion over events lined up for Monday. Apart from the main stone-laying ceremony being organised by the Centre at Kahlanwali village, there were talks of a separate function being organised by the state government at Mann village.
NHAI was asked by the Centre to make the arrangements for the function. Even the funds and invitation cards were issued by the agency. The agency officials passed on the instructions to the district administration, but there was no trace of preparations at Kahlanwali village. Earlier, a blame game was going on between the NHAI officials and district administration.
NHAI technical director Ashish Sharma was seen blaming deputy commissioner Vipul Ujwal for the lax approach to make arrangements for the event. Minister Randhawa said there was no clarity on the alignment yet. “It’s at the initial stage. The representatives of both the governments will work on a blueprint,” he said.
‘CLEAR ROAD PROJECTS IN HISTORIC TOWNS’
CM Amarinder Singh on Sunday sought the personal intervention of Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari for expeditious clearance of road projects in the historic towns of Sultanpur Lodhi, Batala and Dera Baba Nanak. The towns are associated with the life of Guru Nanak. In a letter to Gadkari, the CM said he was grateful to the Centre for acceding to the request of his government related to the projects and announcements in this regard.