The Gurdaspur administration in Punjab extended the suspension of the Kartarpur pilgrimage by two more days. The religious corridor – a visa-free border crossing connecting Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan’s Kartarpur and Gurdwara Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur – is expected to reopen on July 25.
The local administration held a meeting with National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Border Security Force (BSF) and Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI) near the ‘zero line’ in Dera Baba Nanak. The Kartarpur Corridor was closed on Thursday (July 20) for three days due to rising water levels in the Ravi river as 2.60 lakh cusecs of water was released in the Ujh river in Jammu on Wednesday (July 19).
But with more water expected to flow into the river in the next two to three days, there is a high chance of flooding. “With the threat of floods looming large, we have put the yatra on hold. The situation is not at all conducive for travel. We are monitoring the situation at regular intervals,” an official said.
Fields near the corridor are submerged in water but residential areas and the corridor building are safe. Earlier, water had reached the periphery but was stopped by a temporary embankment from entering the main building.
The Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan is the final resting place of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev. Those who came to offer prayers at the historic gurdwara on July 20 were stopped by the authorities from travelling to the Sikh shrine.
The Kartarpur Corridor opened in 2019 on the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev. On November 8, 2019, a day before the corridor was to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, floods had ravaged a “tent city”, which was 4.5 km from the corridor, and was to accommodate visitors from India and foreign countries. But rain disrupted the plan and the tent city was reduced to a ghost city.