Hospitality giants put on hold plans for Dera Baba Nanak

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Dera Baba Nanak, November 14

Hospitality honchos, keeping in view the disinterest shown by devotees in using the Kartarpur corridor, have put on hold plans of investing in Dera Baba Nanak town even as the combined footfall after the sixth day was pegged at just 2,000 devotees against the expected 30,000.

When the corridor was conceptualised in November last year, hotel magnates from New Delhi, Mumbai and Pune had evinced interest. Cabinet minister and local MLA Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa had even been approached by a few of them. The minister now says he has stopped getting such calls.

One of top hoteliers said not even a single businessman was willing to open shop keeping in the view changed circumstances. Reports have also surfaced that some UK-based NRIs who had proposed to pump in funds in and around Kartarpur in Pakistan have now withdrawn.

British Sikh Association chairman Rami Ranger has been quoted as saying, “UK-based Punjabi diaspora will not invest in Kartarpur till the relations between both countries normalise.”

The main factors that are keeping devotees away are the requirements of passports and $20 service fee coupled with the fear that if another Pulwama-type attack happens, they may be hounded by police and intelligence officials. When a person registers online, the local police makes a check and the record gets registered with the cops.

The online portal shows that all 5,000 slots that are available daily are filled till November 25, thereby giving a misleading picture that all is well. Officials attribute this to the fact that during registration, the $20 fee and the passport do not come into play.

In an attempt to tide over the service fees woes, Dubai businessman and philanthropist SPS Oberoi has agreed to pay for 1,100 pilgrims per year. “We cannot let the project go waste. On my part, my NGO Sarbat Da Bhalla Charitable Trust will provide funds. We will help the pilgrims to apply online at the Trust’s offices and will also pay for them,” he said.

SAD wants govt  to bear $20 fee

• The SAD on Thursday asked CM Capt Amarinder Singh not to take an anti-Sikh stance and immediately take on the responsibility of paying the $20 service fee being charged by Pakistan. 
• “The CM should instead explain why the Mukh Mantri Tirath Yatra Scheme is not being revived to help pilgrims visiting Kartarpur?” asked Daljit Singh Cheema

Investors disperse

• When the corridor was conceptualised in November last  year, hotel magnates from New Delhi, Mumbai and Pune had evinced  interest. Cabinet Minister and local MLA Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa had  even been approached by a few of them. The minister now says he has stopped getting such calls.