Clear Ram Bagh of encroachers: Amritsar Vikas Manch

Amritsar, May 8

Welcoming the campaign launched by Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat, Punjab, Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal to get rid of illegal occupation of government properties, office-bearers of the Amritsar Vikas Manch, a local NGO, on Sunday sought to remove illegal occupation from the historic Ram Bagh and the summer capital of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

The office-bearers of the forum have written to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayats Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Principal Secretary, Local Government, Vivek Partap Singh, Mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu, DC Harpreet Singh Soodan and Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh in this regard.

Dr Charanjit Singh Gumtala, patron of the forum, stated that under the agreement reached between the President of India and the Governor of Punjab on December 4, 2018, apart from the buildings constructed by Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the garden, the rest of the constructions, including MC offices, food stalls, lawn tennis and skating rings, should be removed. The alcohol consumption and other commercial activities are prohibited in the garden, which is still ongoing.

The agreement prohibits the entry of four-wheelers and heavy vehicles into the garden. The Bagh was built by Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the name of Guru Ram Das, the fourth Sikh Guru. The 84-acre garden was modelled on Lahore’s Shalamar Bagh. It was the summer capital of the Maharaja. There is a panorama and a summer palace in this garden. But sadly it is being ignored by the Municipal Corporation.