Tourism Dept told to ensure hygiene on Heritage Street, review working of firm hired

Expressing concern over the poor upkeep of Golden Temple Plaza and Heritage Street, Additional MC Commissioner Surinder Singh conducted an inspection of the stretch leading to Darbar Sahib today. During the inspection, the Additional MC Commissioner assessed the cleanliness and sewerage system from Bhrawan Da Dhaba to Darbar Sahib. MC officials found that bins, installed alongside the Heritage Street were missing, forcing visitors to dump garbage on the streets. Singh issued on-the-spot instructions to the officials concerned, emphasising the necessity of maintaining a high standard of cleanliness on Heritage Street, as it receives a daily footfall of thousands of devotees who visit the revered religious site.

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A letter has been written to the District Tourism Officer regarding the proper upkeep of Heritage Street and asking him to review the functioning of firm hired for cleanliness by the Tourism Department.

The Additional MC Commissioner also directed the Sewerage Department to deploy dedicated staff to ensure that sewerage related issues on Heritage Street are resolved promptly, preventing inconvenience to visitors. Singh stated that the Municipal Corporation has made comprehensive arrangements to maintain cleanliness around all religious and historical sites in the city. He elaborated that the Punjab Tourism Department is responsible for the upkeep of Heritage Street, including the cleanliness of tiles, maintenance of statues along the path, and overall preservation. The Tourism Department has outsourced this responsibility to a private firm and the Municipal Corporation has formally communicated with the department regarding these arrangements. A letter has been written to the District Tourism Officer in this regard.

Singh said that officials of the MC Health wing have been directed to ensure the cleanliness of Heritage Street at all times. The initiative aims to provide a clean and hygienic environment for devotees and tourists visiting Darbar Sahib, reinforcing Amritsar’s status as a key religious and historical destination.

Accompanying him on the visit were Chief Sanitary Inspector Sarabjit Singh, Sanitary Inspector Tejinder Kumar, SDO Gurpreet Singh from the Sewerage Department and officials from the waste management company, Quess Corp.