Team from UK to cleanse Golden Temple coating

GS Paul

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 22

The SGPC has decided to cleanse the Golden Temple’s gold coating that has been affected due to pollution.

Birmingham-based Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha has been entrusted this task during the executive committee meeting held at Gurdwara Degsar Saheb, Katana.

SGPC's additional secretary Diljit Singh Bedi said, “It is the same England-based team which had undertaken the job of cleaning the gold-plated crust of the shrine in 1999. Now, fresh cleansing process will be initiated within a month. This will be done with the help of reetha (soap nut) which is capable of removing the dust,” he said.

The Maharaja Ranjit Singh-era gold plates lasted for over 150 years, before they were replaced in 1999. However, after a few months, the gold varnish turned reddish.

The shrine's shell has been losing its sheen due to vehicular and industrial pollution, besides mushrooming of hotels, dhabas and coal-operated hearths being used by the Guru Bazaar goldsmiths nearby.

A continuous ambient air quality monitoring equipment was recently set up at the Golden Temple complex to collect the real-time data of the pollution around the shrine.

The equipment will help the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) to initiate preventive steps.