MC employees demolish the boundary wall of Ram Bagh to construct gate for a cafeteria in Maharaja Ranjit Singh Panorama.
The municipal corporation today broke the wall of Ram Bagh for making a new entry to the proposed cafeteria in the Maharana Ranjit Singh Panorama from the Madan Mohal Malwia Road here.
The MC has invited multi-national food chains, including McDonald, for bidding on June 30 so that the Panorama, which has been in red since its inception, could be made a profitable venture.
BJP Member of Parliament Navjot Singh Sidhu has said that like Lahore, a food street would be opened inside the precincts of the Panorama. He said the proposed Rs 5 crore food street would offer traditional and fast food, and the central government had already given its consent regarding this.
However, MC commissioner D.B. Kharbanda said there would not be any alteration in the national monument for running the cafeteria.
He said the site of the cafeteria was already earmarked in the panorama precincts and would not pose any threat to the monument.
He said since its inception, Panorama had proved to be a white elephant and after opening the cafeteria and the food street, it would bring the project out of red. He said the income from Panorama was less than Rs 50,000 per month, while expenditure on it was more than Rs 1.50 lakh.
The MC, however, dismissed the apprehensions of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) that the opening of the Panorama would be in violation of the National Monument Act.
The state government has already given its permission to open the cafeteria inside the Panorama.
It may be mentioned here that after the publication of the news item in these columns, senior conservation assistant of the ASI had sent a missive to commissioner, MC, objecting to the proposed cafeteria.
Apart from western food, the food kiosks would offer traditional Amritsari cuisines. After sunset, lights, proposed to be designed to illuminate the decorated rooftops, would and the Food Street would come alive. The MC would provide the necessary infrastructure.
The Food Street at Gawalmandi Street in Lahore has earned name all over the world for serving Punjabi food.
Interestingly, the Holy City has the highest consumption of desi ghee and butter in the state. Puris, paranthas and Gur da Karah, saas and kachauris, made of desi ghee, are available at eating joints here.