Over 59,000 visited Kartarpur gurdwara since corridor opening
AMRITSAR: As many as 59,318 pilgrims visited the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur, Pakistan, since the opening of the Kartarpur Corridor in November last year. The data was compiled from integrated check post (ICP) set up at Dera Baba Nanak, Gurdaspur.
No considerable surge was witnessed in the footfall of the pilgrims using the corridor, despite India had raised the demand before Pakistan to allow 5,000 pilgrims per day and 10,000 on special occasions.
A long-pending demand of the Sikh community in India, the corridor was opened on November 9 last year amid much fanfare. Using the corridor, which is around 4-km-long, the pilgrims are able to visit Kartarpur gurdwara, the last resting place of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak, from Dera Baba Nanak, last Indian town along the border.
As many as 59,318 pilgrims visited the shrine from November 9 last year to March 8. In November, the footfall was 11,192, which increased to 23,383 in December. Daily average pilgrims in these months remained 508 and 754, respectively.
In January, the number dipped to 10,529 and daily average for the month came down to 339. In February, the number remained almost same. In the first eight days of March, total number was 4,020, which makes daily average of 502.
MAIN HURDLES
Those who carried out campaign for the opening of the corridor are considering condition of passport, complicated application procedure and service fee as three major factors behind the low footfall. “Apart from Sikh organisations, Punjab assembly has also passed a resolution seeking waiver of the passport condition,” said BS Goraya, who is among the activists who worked for opening the corridor.