Wait for Amritsar’s Urban Haat gets even longer

GS Paul

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 17

The ambitious Urban Haat project, aimed at bringing Amritsar’s popular food joints under one umbrella, has missed its deadline yet again.

Conceptualised as a replica of Lahore’s Food Street, the site is being developed by refurbishing the abandoned complex of a 124-year old colonial building of Victoria Jubilee Hospital. The restoration is being cited as the main reason for the delay.

Leading eateries such as Makhan Fish, Beera Chicken Corner, Ahuja Lassi, Gyan Lassi, century-old Kesar Da Dhaba and Kulcha Land are keenly waiting to open their branches in Urban Haat.

It is for the fourth time that this project has missed its deadline. Earlier, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal had fixed July 2015 for the purpose. Thereafter, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was scheduled to inaugurate the project on Independence Day last year. Later, it was announced that Urban Haat would be thrown open on the New Year, but to no avail.

Amritsar Development Authority chairman Sandeep Rishi said the project was in its last phase and would be made operational by June.

“We are giving finishing touches to the site. In mid-May, a heritage fair is being organised at the spot to showcase the project to the public. Once completed, it would be a major tourist attraction. We have already received applications from Amritsar’s famous kitchens and efforts are on to rope in international chains such as Cafe Coffee Day and McDonald’s,” he said.

Presently, temporary kiosks operat from the footpath that runs along the boundary wall of the complex.