Rs13.2 bn to be spent on Gurdwara Kartarpur uplift

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has decided to complete first phase of development of Gurdwara Kartarpur Corridor with estimated cost of Rs13.2 billion for construction of bridge, road, rest rooms for capacity of 1000 person and other affiliated facilities within this ongoing calendar year.

It is estimated that seven to ten thousands devotees belonging to Sikhs community from India and other parts of the world will visit their holy place on daily basis. The government is considering levying $20 entry fees on per visitor coming from abroad while very nominal fee will charged from local visitors.

The government has earmarked Rs1 billion for land acquisition and development work of Kartarpur in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the budget 2019-20 against initially estimated cost of Rs3 billion.

The government will construct special inns and community kitchen (Langarkhana) for visitors of this place. It was told during the meeting that Indian side also constructed roads on their side of bordering area and Pakistani side will also complete the road and bridge work in next six months because the area of Gurdwara Kartarpur is located around 6.7 km away from Indian border.

After payment of entry fees, the devotees will enter into Pakistani area and will walk around one kilometer then buses will pick up to The contract for construction of first phase has alreadybeen awarded to FWO and construction work is underway. The PC-1 of the project is ready for submission before the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) and it may be approved on the basis of BOT (Built-Operate and Transfer).

Federal Minister for Planning Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar on Friday chaired a meeting on development of Gurdwara Kartarpur Corridor here in Islamabad on Friday. Secretary Planning Zafar Hasan, Secretary Religious Affairs, Director General FWO Maj. Gen Inam Haider Malik, Members Planning Commission, Commissioner Gujranwala, representatives from NESPAK and high level officials of the ministry were present during the occasion. The Deputy Commissioner Narowal briefed during the meeting and told the participants that the state of the art facilities would be provided to cater the requirements of thousands of expected visitors.

It was briefed during the meeting that the Gurdwara Kartarpur basically possessed 10 marla of land and for the first phase of construction work the government acquired 48 acres of land for construction of state of art facilities for Sikh devotees.

The first phase of construction work would be completed till November 2019 while it was also decided to acquire more land for execution of second phase of development of the area. It is expected that four and five star hotels might be constructed in this area to cater the requirements of visitors on daily basis. The government also constituted a technical to finalize mechanism through which the arrangement of this area will be run. The government may constitute separate company to run the affairs of the Kartarpur area after completion of its first phase and opening up of area for devotees.

However, according to official statement issued by Ministry of Planning stating that Federal Minister for Planning, Development & Reform Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar has said that the incumbent Government took a major initiative last year by announcing opening of Kartarpur Corridor to provide access to Sikh devotees to Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib on the request of Mr. Navjot Singh Sidhu.

He underlined that the Government is committed to timely completion of the corridor which will provide easy access to Sikh devotees besides promoting religious tourism. The Minister noted that Prime Minister had performed the ground breaking of the Corridor on November 28, 2018 and will inaugurate the Corridor in November this year.

The Minister highlighted that the gesture shown by Pakistan reflects its resolve to promote peace in the region and maintain cordial relations with all neighbours including India. He underscored that the corridor will be developed in stipulated time so that the Sikh devotees are able to perform their religious rituals on the upcoming 550th birthday celebrations of Baba Guru Nanak Dev.

During the meeting, DG FWO gave a detailed briefing to the participants about the progress on development of the corridor, including, construction of border terminal buildings, langarkhana, Gurdwara complex and a bridge. He apprised that technical details and designs have been shared with the Indian side and the work was in full swing. He said that all cultural, religious and social issues have been taken care while developing the corridor. He further informed that a media visit will be arranged soon to the corridor for a briefing on its development.

The meeting decided to constitute a technical committee comprising relevant stakeholders to look into the matters of land acquisition, cost sharing mechanism and other technical issues.