Kartarpur Sahib corridor's closure extended by two more days

Ravi Dhaliwal

Dera Baba Nanak, July 22

The Kartarpur corridor’s closure date has been extended by two more days. This decision was taken after officials of the Gurdaspur administration held a meeting with their counterparts from the Land Ports Authority of India, the National Highways Authority of India and the Border Security Force.

The pilgrims can now start crossing over from July 25. Earlier, fearing that the corridor could be flooded by the Ravi water, officials had shut it down for three days. It was to open tomorrow.

As the Ravi meanders its way into Pakistan from India from near the corridor, there were chances that the passage would be thrown open to the public on July 23, but officials dithered on taking a decision keeping in view the rain that lashed the region over the last 48 hours.

Deputy Commissioner (DC) Himanshu Aggarwal held elaborate discussions with the BSF, the NHAI and the LPAI officials near the corridor at Dera Baba Nanak today evening. “We discussed the procedures relating to the repair of the road passing near the zero-line which has been damaged. Certain other aspects were also taken up. We want the corridor to be opened as soon as possible and we are making all efforts to ensure the road is repaired quickly. That is why I asked the PWD officials to be present today,” he said.

The 4.5-km corridor, which includes the Integrated Check Post (ICP), was closed for nearly 18 months from March 2020 till November 2021, in the wake of pandemic. The pilgrimage would not have been disrupted had Pakistan built its part of the bridge.