Visitors to beat a retreat at Attari, for now
BSF to continue with lowering of flag ceremony; spectators’ entry at Hussainiwala and Sadqi borders also discontinued
AMRITSAR : The Border Security Force (BSF) will hold the daily retreat ceremony at the Attariwagah border on the Indian side without the presence of visitors with the government issuing guidelines restricting public gatherings in the wake of coronavirus scare, officials said on Friday.
The personnel will continue performing the ceremonial duty of lowering the flag and other drills, a BSF spokesperson said. “As per government guidelines, congregations are to be avoided in view of the coronavirus outbreak. Therefore, visitors will not be entertained during the ceremony from Saturday (March 7),” he said.
Later, during a meeting with representatives of hotel industry Amritsar deputy commissioner Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon on Friday said, “The hoteliers have been apprised with the dos and don’ts. They were asked to give details of every foreign tourist visiting their hotel to the health department and the district administration. They will also guide the tourists about the suspension of the retreat ceremony for the visitors so that they do not feel hassled.”
The meeting was also attended by Amritsar civil surgeon Dr Prabhdeep Kaur Johal.
“Posters and banners will be put up in hotels and other tourist places, informing people not to go to the international border for watching the ceremony. The district administration is taking all precautionary measures to control any spread of the epidemic,” the DC said.
An advisory in this regard has been put up in the Golden Temple complex, he added.
“The Punjab government has also postponed the ‘rozgar mela’ (employment fair) which was slated to be held on March 12 and 13 in Amritsar, in which over 18,000 applicants were scheduled to come,” Dular further said.
The retreat ceremony is held every evening by the BSF personnel on the India side of zero line that divides the two countries. During the ceremony, the national flags of India and Pakistan are lowered by their forces amid foot stomping and patriotic music in presence of a large number of visitors on both sides of the border. The ceremony, which was started in 1959, emerged as a major tourist attraction on both sides.
The Attari-wagah border is the second most visited tourist destination in Amritsar after the Golden Temple with nearly 15,000 people watching the ceremony daily and 25,000 on weekends. The count goes up on Independence Day and Republic Day.
The visitors’ entry at Ferozepur’s Hussainiwala and Fazilka’s Sadqi borders was also stopped as a precautionary measure against coronavirus.
The BSF will continue performing the retreat ceremony here also.
(With agency inputs)
PUNJABI FILM FESTIVAL POSTPONED
Punjab tourism and cultural affairs department has postponed the “International Punjabi Film Festival” following corona scare. Tourism minister Charanjit Singh Channi said new dates for the film festival would be announced after the situation normalises. The government has already issued instructions to all DCS advising people to stay away from congested and crowded places.
GOVT ISSUES ADVISORY
The Punjab health department on Friday issued a precautionary
advisory for coronavirus under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, which provides for special measures to prevent outbreak or spread of any dangerous epidemic disease.
In a release issued earlier in the day, it was said the government has declared Covid-19 as an epidemic disease. An official spokesperson later said that there was absolutely no ‘epidemic’ of the disease in the state.
The department has issued an advisory under the said Act only as a “temporary regulation” to combat the threat of coronavirus, said the spokesperson, adding that there was no cause for panic at present and the situation was under control.
ADMINISTRATION ASKS AMRITSAR HOTELIERS TO SHARE DETAILS OF EVERY FOREIGN VISITOR