Kartarpur passenger terminal work begins

The work on 15-acre passenger terminal for Kartarpur corridor was kicked off on Saturday in the presence of senior officials of the Land Port Authority of India (LPAI) at Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur.

Inaugurating the terminal, LPAI chairman Anil Kumar Bamba said the terminal was being constructed as part of the first phase of the project and will be completed by October 31.

“The first jatha (batch) will leave for Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur on November 11, a day before the 550th Parkash Purb of Guru Nanak,” he added.

In the second phase, hotels, sarais (night shelters) and hospitals, among other facilities, will be built on the 50-acre plot over a span of two years, he said.

The corridor, which will connect Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur to Kartarpur in the Narowal province of Pakistani Punjab, is being constructed to commemorate the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak — the founder of Sikhism.

The guru spent the final years of his life at Kartarpur. The corridor is to be constructed before November 23, 2019.

The “state-of-the-art” passenger terminal building complex is being constructed at a cost of Rs 190 crore, and will have all the necessary passenger amenities, including rest rooms, toilets, amusement means for children and government departments such as custom and immigration, to facilitate the pilgrims intending to visit the Kartarpur gurdwara, said Bamba.

He said the terminal will accommodate at least 10,000 persons daily but it is for the government of the two countries to decide how many persons will be allowed to perform the pilgrimage in a day.

First Published: Jun 23, 2019 23:02 IST