Knotty Affair: Loose wires run across windows, balconies in old city’s Katra Baghian

Amritsar, August 4

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The narrow and already overcrowded bylanes of Katra Baghian, one of the main commercial complexes in the walled city, has one of the most notorious maze of electrical and broadband wires. As common with all the major commercial katras or residential-cum-commercial complexes inside the walled city, Katra Baghian too is susceptible to dangerously loose or overlapping wires that run right across the windows and balconies of some houses. But as is the case for many years, the authorities are in deep slumber and only an untoward incident is likely to wake them up from it.

Katra Baghian too has a history as with most katras or commercial lifelines of the walled city. According to historians and locals, Katra Baghian was not among the originally established Katras when the city of Amritsar was founded, then called Ramdaspur. Katra Baghian eventually got its name during Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s time, when it used to be a hub for bughees (horse-drawn wagons) which were a popular mode of commute then.

Some also say it got its name when Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s convoy used to take this route to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple.

History notwithstanding, the area currently has become another example of unplanned laying of wires and transformers that often eat away road space and pose a risk to commuters.