Golden Temple plaza to come up by Diwali

Amritsar, Punjab: Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today reviewed the progress of the construction of Rs 78 crore Golden Temple Entrance Plaza project and asked the authorities to ensure its completion by Diwali this year.

After reviewing the work on the project, Sukhbir said the work was on full swing. “Within few months, finishing touches will be given to the project. This unique project will prove a boon for thousands of tourists visiting the shrine daily from across the world as it would have audio-video information system, depicting the history and rich heritage of Sikhs, besides world class auditoriums.”

Asking the construction agency and planners to realign the façade of the project with the intrinsic theme of the Golden Temple architecture, he said the plaza should add to the beauty and the splendour of the place. He also went

around the roads leading from Hall Bazaar to Golden Temple. It was decided that the fronts of all shops and houses located on this road should also be realigned to give the whole street a new look. Focusing on providing world class facilities to the pilgrims, Sukhbir said the opening lobby of the plaza should have pilgrims’ facilitation centre, Internet café, railway and air ticket booking counters, a Punjab Tourism kiosk, a medical, healthcare and first-aid counter to provide emergency medical care to the devotees, besides a counter to provide free religious literature.

He said the focus of the plaza would be the pilgrims’ convenience while maintaining the religious sanctity of the Golden Temple.

A separate meeting was also called to give final touches to the interior artwork of the basement. Directing the department concerned to finalise the agency for carrying out artwork in the basement of the plaza, the Deputy CM said the artwork in the basement should be in line with the heritage complex and murals on the wall should portray ancient Sikh history. He said he was looking forward to this project to associate the younger generation with the Sikh Panth by organising audio-visual show on Sikh history in the plaza basement. Asking to use the best available marble for the construction of the plaza, he constituted two teams to scout for best marble in Makrana and surrounding areas.

Earlier, PS Aujla, PWD Secretary, gave a presentation on the project and it was decided to hire landscape experts to decide about greening of the plaza.

Source: The Tribune