Tourist hot spots reopen in city

Neha Saini

Tribune news service

Amritsar, November 16

After an eight-month hiatus, some of popular tourist attractions in the city have reopened, inviting tourists to visit these places.

The Covid-19 pandemic had severely hit the buzzing tourism industry in the city and some of its victims were historically popular places like Gobindgarh Fort and Attari-Wagah border. As these tourist hotbeds have reopened, the revival of tourism is expected.

Deepa Sahi, founder and director of Mayanagri One Pvt Ltd, a company that is running entertainment and tourism-related activities at the heritage Gobindgarh Fort through the public-private partnership (PPP) mode, said the reopening would certainly set a pace for gradual increase in tourist activities.

“The new normal for tourism is definitely being watched and implemented with caution, but the dry spell in the sector would not continue. We reopened on November 10 and it took us four-five days just to free the place from the Covid. We are prepared for tourist footfall, which is very low. We are going to take a call on which other activities should revive and how flexible we can be with our tourist flow after 20-30 days,” said Deepa Sahi.

The fort had been running a 7D show, ‘Sher-e-Punjab’, based on Maharaja Ranjit Singh, and another show ‘Kanda Boldiyan Ne’, a multimedia sound and lights show, with laser lights, computer animation and projection-mapping technologies along with other tourist activities.

Around 3,500 persons visited the fort a day before the lockdown. Deepa said the lockdown came as a blessing as it helped in completing the development and restoration work being carried out by the Punjab Tourism and Heritage Development Board. “The fort was under renovation when the lockdown hit and we have roughly nine acres of it for activities. We are planning to develop a kids’ activity centre and an open theatre and shows based on the culture of Punjab. We are hopeful that these things would help in increasing tourist footfall,” said the director of Mayanagri One Pvt Ltd. The Punjab War Heroes Memorial and Museum, another popular site of history and tourism in the city, reopened on Monday for tourists. The museum management had been running virtual events and webinars to engage the interested audience.

“We were getting lots of requests to reopen it, especially after Unlock 5 was announced. As far as the new normal for us is concerned, we will reopen with all health safety guidelines in place and these would be followed strictly. We have set up a sanitization tunnel for visitors and staff. No groups will be allowed and only individual tours will be given in the beginning. We have also cut short our regular tours and its timings,” said Col HP Singh, project director of the museum.

The museum will now allow only one-hour tour, which were earlier open-ended, of the galleries. Also, the popular 7D theatre show will not be opened to maintain social distancing norms. With some economic cushioning during the lockdown, the museum did not lay off its staff and also switched over to solar power to reduce expenses. “We are excited to welcome visitors after re-opening,” said Colonel Singh.

Sadda Pind also reopened on Monday, though it is currently putting in place health safety measures.

Meanwhile, the Jallianwala Bagh remains shut for tourists.