Huge hoardings on high-rise buildings near Golden Temple in Amritsar.
Navjot Singh Sidhu, BJP MP, has stirred the hornets’ nest by raising the issue of marring the beauty of the Golden Temple in view of the high-rise buildings and the advertising billboards, which stare down on the devotees visiting the holy shrine, in its surroundings.
Describing these structures as eyesores, Sidhu has sought the framing of a comprehensive master plan to save the periphery and design of the structures around the temple in conformity to its historical and religious architecture.
Several non-government organisations (NGOs) have joined in the chorus with Sidhu and have demanded the immediate removal of all hoardings and razing of all high-rise buildings, which dominate the vicinity and dwarf the highly respected Sikh shrine.
Charanjit Singh Gumtala, patron, Amritsar Vikas Manch, a votary for the beautification of the Golden Temple surroundings, said they were first to raise the issue several months ago about the advertising hoardings, which has marred the beauty around the periphery of the temple. He said the manch had already filed a public interest litigation in the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking action against the high-rise buildings.
He said the manch had sent various representations to the Prime Minister, Chief Minister, Dr M.S. Gill, minister of state for sports and cultural affair, Navjot Singh Sidhu, MP, and others.
He said they had received a positive response from Dr Gill, who had urged them to take up the matter with the BJP MP, who had raised his voice against these issues. However, he added that now the ball was in the court of the government and it must immediately fulfil its obligations to bring about the uniformity in rules to stop the “vandalism” of the immediate neighbourhood of the temple.
He said thousands of lakhs of devotees come to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple and these eyesores give a jarring note to their sublime journey to the abode the divine.
Brij Bedi, social activist and a conservationist of heritage sites, has lashed out at the government for its shameful callousness in allowing commercialisation of the surroundings of the Golden Temple where several hotels and commercial sites have sprung out without any clear guidelines.
He said the advertising billboards and the high-rise buildings were violating the norms set for a heritage sites like the Golden Temple, which had been rated as the sixth t-visited place in the world. He said the government must come up with a comprehensive guideline to protect not only the environment around the temple, but also come up with a blue print for the designs of the buildings surrounding the temple.
Meanwhile, commissioner, municipal corporation, D.P.S. Kharbanda, while talking to The Tribune, said the civic body had already taken cognisance of the violations by the buildings around Darbar Sahib and sent notices to alt 35 such structures four months back. He said it was up to the government to take a decision to stop the illegal construction activity around the temple.
He said since the Golden Temple had not been granted the status of the heritage site, the government would have to frame rules and regulate the construction activity around the temple as at present they were unable to take any action in view of non-compoundable offence.
What has shocked the city residents is springing up of a large scale of small and big hotels in the periphery under the Galliara project. According to information collected by The Tribune team, majority of these commercial dwellings have come up without proper sanctions and approvals. These structures are spoiling the spiritual visage of Harmandar Sahib, besides disturbing the environment and generating a lot of pollution. The NGOs felt that the government must put immediate curb on the building activities and protect the t important religious place in the city.
Deputy commissioner K.S. Pannu said they were seized of the matter and added that it was the responsibility of the corporation to take action against the illegal constructions and high-rise buildings, besides removal of hoardings in the surroundings of the Golden Temple.
Number of hoteliers, reacting to the hue and cry raised by Sidhu, said they had not received any notices to take corrective measures with regard to high-rise buildings and added that the government should frame a policy to stop all future construction around the Golden Temple as the existing hotels had been constructed for the benefit of thousands of pilgrims who visited the holy shrine.
They said they were willing to abide by the rules and added that the hoteliers and other commercial establishment owners should be taken into confidence before framing any rules and regulations.
See previous story: BJP team points out violations on Golden Temple periphery
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