Hindustan Times (Patiala)

Sultanpur Lodhi residents urged to rent out houses to pilgrims

- Jatinder Mahal jatinder@htlive.com

SULTANPUR LODHI: To cater the rush on the eve the 550th birth anniversar­y of Guru Nanak between November 1 and 20, the state government has urged local residents and non-resident Indians (NRIs) to rent out their houses to the pilgrims.

The state government has taken 900 acres on rent from farmers to set-up three tent cities as around 30-35 lakh pilgrims are expected to visit the city for the Guru’s anniversar­y event. The officials said that to make the stay of the pilgrims comfortabl­e and memorable, we have requested the locals to rent out their properties to tourists.

The government has also prepared the lists of hotels and government guest houses in Jalandhar and Kapurthala for the stay of officials and devotees. Beside, Kapurthala administra­tion has also developed a pilgrim-friendly mobile applicatio­n named as ‘550 Parkash Ustav’ for the convenienc­e of the pilgrims. The app will also provide details and availabili­ty of hotels.

“We are urging the people to let pilgrims stay in their house as guests during the almost threeweek-long celebratio­ns. For this, we will make a special column in the app for people and NRIs, who want to inform us about renting out their houses and bungalows,” said Kapurthala deputy commission­er DPS Kharbanda.

The app will be launched on Saturday and as of now the administra­tion has a tie-up with 80 hotels in Jalandhar and over 40 in Kapurthala district. The hotel owners voluntaril­y have agreed to reserve 10% rooms for officials and VIP guests, said the DC.

Officials said that the app will have navigation system to guide pilgrims to Sultanpur Lodhi and various gurdwaras here.

ADMN TO KEEP RECORD OF PROPERTIES TO BE PUT UP FOR RENT

The administra­tion will keep a record of properties that will be put up for rent. The guests will have to share their Aadhaar ID or passport numbers with the administra­tion for proper registrati­on.

In the app, people can also get to know the availabili­ty of rooms in hotels and tent houses and how they can book these tents and hotel rooms in Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts.

KAPURTHALA ADMN HAS ALSO DEVELOPED A MOBILE APPLICATIO­N ‘550 PARKASH USTAV’ TO PROVIDE DETAILS AND AVAILABILI­TY OF HOTELS TO DEVOTEES

 ?? The work of one of the tent cities under progress in Sultanpur Lodhi. PARDEEP PANDIT/HT ??
The work of one of the tent cities under progress in Sultanpur Lodhi. PARDEEP PANDIT/HT

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