Now, historic milestones roadblock in BRTS project

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, January 12

After laying of dedicated corridor for the bus rapid transit system (BRTS) project in middle of the GT road, two historic pillars, which were installed during the rule of Maharaja Ranjit Singh to serve as milestones, have now become its roadblock.

Varinderjit Singh, a resident of Puttalighar chowk, said, “Many accidents take place daily, but the department concerned is yet to take notice of the problem.”

He said, “Will the government agency wake up from its slumber after occurrence of a major accident, snuffing out innocent precious lives?”

Punjab INTACH convener, Prof Sukhdev Singh, said, “As the historic milestones now stand between the road, it is advisable to relocate these to one side of the same stretch for public safety. A marking should also be installed to indicate its re-location.”

He demanded that a board displaying history of milestones should also be installed so that the next generation could be made aware of its significance.

Two ‘Kos Minars’ of Maharaja Ranjit Singh era were built during the Sikh rule from Ajnala to Gobindgarh Fort and then to the old city. However, most ‘minars’ were lost during the years. Only two of these had survived so far.

Another set of two popular minars are situated at Doburji, earmarking the route from Tarn Taran to Amritsar and back.

While ‘Kos Minars’ of the Mughal era on the original Grand Trunk road built by emperor Sher Shah Suri have been preserved by the Archaeological Survey of India, the relics of Ranjit Singh era have so far been neglected.

When approached, Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora said, after the conduct of Assembly elections, information on significance of the two historic minars would be sought from Guru Nanak Dev University. He said experts would also be roped in for seeking opinion on the historic structures. He added that the matter of public inconvenience while commuting on the road was already in his knowledge.