Blast points to negligence on authorities’ part, say Amritsar residents

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 7

Amritsar Vikas Manch (AVM), the leading civic advocacy NGO along with local residents has condemned the incident in which a blast took place last night at the Heritage Street which leads to the Golden Temple in the city.

The AVM as well as locals said that the incident exposed the failure of the police, district administration and the Amritsar Municipal Corporation.

Kulwant Singh Ankhi, patron, AVM, pointed out that during the tenure of former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, more than 150 police officers and their subordinates were deployed at the Heritage Street to keep it clean, free of encroachments and ensure that it remained peaceful. Nevertheless, successive state governments have almost ignored this most prominent site of the holy city, he rued.

“We had brought the anomalies and problems like illegal encroachments, beggars, vendors, illegal parking of auto-rickshaws and e-rickshaws besides unauthorised persons at the Heritage Street to the knowledge of Cabinet ministers, including the Local Bodies Minister, district administration, police and the civic body authorities but to no avail,” said Ankhi.

The organisation said such incidents create panic among the tourists, thereby causing loss to tourism and and the hospitality industry, besides hurting the reputation of the city. It urged the administration to deploy enough force at the Heritage Street, besides ensuring cleanliness by the civic authorities.

Satnam Singh Kanda, a hotel owner, said such incidents highlighted in the national and social media has do have their impact on the tourist rush. He said that a tourist staying in a hotel near the spot said there was a spark along with a blast and smoke. He said though the police was issuing an advisory, it should also make it clear as to what actually happened so that tourist do not panic.

Anil Vinayak, a local resident, said the police is yet to make clear the reasons behind the explosion. If it was an accident, then it should have been made clear to the public by now, he pointed out.