Garbage dots Dera Baba Nanak

DERA BABA NANAK Less than three weeks before the opening of Kartarpur corridor, garbage is commonly sighted in the border town of Dera Baba Nanak.

Ahead of 550th Parkash Purb (birth anniversary) of Sikhism’s founder Guru Nanak, the corridor is being opened to provide Indian pilgrims a visa-free access to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur, Pakistan, which is the last resting place of Guru Nanak and only around 4 km from the international border.

A garbage dump is situated very close to the historic Sikh shrine in Dera Baba Nanak, also called Gurdwara Darbar Sahib. This has become an eyesore for the devotees paying obeisance there.

“I have been seeing this dump here for long. The local sangat has requested the authorities concerned to relocate it, but to no avail. Now, when the international corridor is being opened, the government should address this concern on top priority”, said Kabal Singh, a devotee visiting the gurdwara.

Besides, the residents complain that the garbage scattered in the market and streets is not lifted promptly. They showed garbage in the main market of the historic town where work of development and beautification is underway on a war-footing.

OFFICIALS SPEAK

However, Perneet Singh Bedi, president of Dera Baba Nanak municipal council, denied that there is garbage in the markets and streets. “The sanitation workers daily lift the garbage at 10 am, so this is not an issue,” he said.

“As far as the garbage dump is concerned, we have been making efforts to relocate it away from the habitation, but could not succeed due to objection raised by the BSF that guards the border. They asked us to first seek permission from the Union government. We have chosen another site where work is underway to relocate the dump. You will not see the garbage on the existing dump from tomorrow onwards,” he added.