Hygiene goes for toss on Maha Singh road heading to Heritage Street in Amritsar
Neeraj Bagga
Amritsar, September 24
Insanitary conditions prevail on the road leading from Maha Singh Gate to Longa Wali Devi Temple on Heritage Street, which further heads to the Golden Temple and Jallianwala Bagh.
Tourists and residents commuting on the road are irked by heaps of garbage on roadsides, an open manhole and other shortcomings.
The road connects with the Shaheed Madan Lal Dhingra Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT) on the other side, which witnesses a heavy footfall of pilgrims coming from different parts of the state, to pay obeisance at the holiest Sikh shrine.
Jasbir Kaur, a pilgrim from Zira in Ferozepur district, said, “I come to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple once in a month. The bus stand road has been in a deplorable condition for a long time. Sometimes, parts of road are dug up, especially outside the SBI branch. The road should be repaired immediately and waste should be removed from the stretch.”
Harjit Singh, a shopkeeper, said, “The authorities are not concerned about the condition of the bus stand road despite high footfall of tourists. Long queues of devotees are seen on the road heading towards the Golden Temple.”
“The government should have maintained the bus stand road. Instead of beautifying it on the lines of Heritage Street, basic civic amenities should be provided on the road. The internal stretch of the Maha Singh road connecting with Sherawala Gate is also in shambles. Uncovered manhole on the road often overflows,” he said.
Officials said the road was on the priority list of the municipal corporation (MC). An open manhole was covered and the road outside the SBI branch was repaired recently. The remaining works on the road would be undertaken shortly, they said.