Monsoon fury: Floodwater reaches Kartarpur Sahib corridor, pilgrimage put on hold

Ravi Dhaliwal

Dera Baba Nanak (Gurdaspur), July 20

The district administration has suspended the operations at the Kartarpur corridor for three days following the threat of floods from the Ravi.

Situation not conducive for travelling

With the threat of floods looming large, we have put the yatra on hold. The situation is not at all conducive for travelling. We are monitoring the situation at regular intervals. An official

Last night, water was at dangerous levels following which the Gurdaspur Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Aggarwal ordered the closure of the corridor for today. About 25 pilgrims reached Dera Baba Nanak this morning. However, they were told to put their plans on hold. They were given the option of either viewing the Darbar Sahib Gurdwara either through binoculars installed near the corridor or by standing atop the bridge which forms part of the corridor.

Later, the DC wrote to the Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI) seeking permission to shut the passage for three days. The LPAI gave its permission this evening following which the corridor was shut.

“With the threat of floods looming large, we have put the yatra on hold. The situation is not at all conducive for travelling. We are monitoring the situation at regular intervals,” said an official.

Waters had submerged fields in the vicinity of the corridor. However, the residential areas and the corridor building were safe.

Health Minister Balbir Singh was holding a flood review meeting with officials in Gurdaspur when reports started coming that the passage was facing a threat.

DC Aggarwal and Dera Baba Nanak SDM Ashwani Arora rushed to the spot.

The waters had reached its periphery. However, a temporary embankment, which had been constructed last night, prevented the waters from entering the main building.

On November 8, 2019, a day before the corridor was to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, floods had ravaged the ‘tent city’, which had come up near the T-point, about 4.5 km from the corridor.

The tent city was to accommodate people who had come from all over India and even from foreign shores for the inauguration. However, rain disrupted the plans and the tent city was reduced to a ghost city.