(Urges Nitin Gadkari to intervene in interest of Amritsar residents and Sikhs across the country)
(Says new alignment could also connect expressway with shrines of Sultanpur Lodhi, Khadoor Sahib, Goindval Sahib and TarnTaran)
Chandigarh, May 21( WISHAVWARTA ) – – Union food processing industries minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal today requested the Union road transport and highways ministry to amend the alignment of the Delhi – Amritsar – Katra expressway project to provide a new expressway connection between Delhi and Amritsar besides creating a Sikh religious circuit by aligning the proposed expressway with the shrines at Sultanpur Lodhi, Khadoor Sahib, Goindval Sahib and TarnTaran.
In a letter to Union minister Nitin Gadkari, which was also released to the media, Mrs Harsimrat Badal requested the union minister to intervene saying she had received many representations from residents of Amritsar as well as Sikhs across the country urging for better connectivity to the holy city of Amritsar and other Sikh shrines under the proposed Delhi-Amritsar- Katra expressway. She said Amritsar was an important centre of pilgrimage and being one of the biggest cities of Punjab required seamless connectivity to Delhi. She said this would also give an impetus to economic development of the area.
Mrs Badal clarified that the present expressway project provided for upgrading the existing NH-3 from Kartarpur to Amritsar and establishment of new expressway connectivity to the Rajasansi airport even as the Expressway took a separate route from Kartarpur to pass through Qadian and Gurdaspur before entering Jammu and Kashmir. “However there is a feeling that since the historical Sri Harmandar Sahib and Durgiana Mandir are situated in Amritsar there is a need for direct access to the city for all pilgrims coming from Delhi. There are several important Sikh shrines situated around Amritsar and a new alignment will facilitate pilgrims further”, the union minister wrote in her letter to the road transport and highways ministry.
Mrs Badal also urged the highways ministry to take a holistic view of the entire project and also keep in mind the sentiments of the people of the holy city as well pilgrims. She said this could be done by suitable amendment of the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway project to provide direct connectivity to Amritsar through an additional expressway instead of upgrading the existing highway.
