Anandpur Sahib, March 15
Six years after
the foundation stone of the Khalsa Heritage Memorial Complex was, laid by the
Panj Piaras, the project is still far from completion. Conceptualised to
celebrate 500 years of the Sikh history and 300 years of the establishment of
the Khalsa, the complex, scheduled for completion in 2005, may take long before
it acquires the form envisioned by internationally acclaimed architect Moshe
Safdie.
On his official visit to the complex, spread over 100 acres, Safdie
admitted that though he was satisfied with the quality of task executed so far,
he was not satisfied with its quantum. Roped in for the Rs 220-crore project by
former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, the US-based Israeli architect said
that the flow of funds needed to be regularised so that the targets could be
achieved.
Till now, money for the project has come in bits and starts, with
just about Rs 15 crore being made available in the current year. Reportedly,
Larsen and Toubro, contractors for the project, executed overworks worth about
Rs 10.42 crore some time back. The money was paid later. Short on funds, the
Punjab Government has gone to nationalised banks seeking easy loans. Mr D.S.
Jaspal, CEO of the project, confirmed that the banks had been approached for
easy loan. “They have promised us a loan of Rs 100 crore on the prime lending
rate of 5.45 per cent.” Mr Piara Singh Bhopal, nodal officer for the project,
added that the Anandpur Sahib Foundation had sent papers to Punjab National Bank
which is processing the same.
Meanwhile, Safdie, who was here with his Indian
associate Ashok Dhawan to oversee the complex, warned that roofs, skylights and
glass should be put in place before the monsoons lest water damages
construction. “We must stop water from entering the complex,” said the
architect, who recently designed the National Gallery of Art in Toronto. He is
now working on the US Institute of Peace on the Mall in Washington and Holocaust
Museum in Jerusalem.
Excited about the Khalsa museum complex, Safdie said,
“Although there were controversies when I first designed this complex, later
everyone was convinced that it was possible to have a modern building reflecting
the Sikh ethos. Water and gardens — the integral parts of Sikh culture — have
been woven into the plan. Spirituality and commonness of roots are the other
factors that make building in India enjoyable for me.”
Busy designing airports
in Toronto and Israel, Safdie is also handling the rebuilding of the oldest
museum in the USA (Peabody Essex) and the Public Library project in Salt Lake
City. Perturbed over the slack progress of the Khalsa museum, he said it needed
to be speeded up.
As of now, only the basic structural work has been executed
in three sections of the building that comprises complex A with the library, the
temporary exhibit gallery and the entry plaza, complex B with the cafe and the
water body and complex C with permanent installations in the museum. Out of Rs
76 crore spent on the complex so far, Rs 31 crore has come from the Central
Government while Rs 45 crore has come from the state. Another Rs 5.5 crore were
released yesterday. Meanwhile, the state government has also approached Royal
Interior Museum and Holocaust Museum in the USA to seek help for upgrading the
ingredients in the museum, which will be an evolving entity, meant to facilitate
pursuit of research activities.
