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Pilgrims put the pressure on Anandpur Sahib

Onkar Singh in Anandpur Sahib

Over 500,000 Sikh devotees have already descended on Anandpur Sahib. And one sign of the pressure the city is under can be seen from the fact that there are over 10,000 vehicles parked at various points in the city. As Baisakhi approaches, the number of devotees is likely to cross the one million mark and the number of vehicles, 25,000.

The small city has already been stretch to its limits, as exemplified by a traffic jam on April 11 that was seven kilometres long.

Over 150 community kitchens (langars) are busy preparing food for pilgrims pouring into the city since the first week of this month.

"At a given time, these community kitchens can cater to over 25,000 devotees," said Chief Minister and president of the Shiromani Akali Dal Parkash Singh Badal, who has been in the city since April 7 to personally oversee arrangements.

"The Punjab Energy Development Agency, the state's nodal agency for promotion and development of non-conventional energy resources in the state, is developing the holy town of Sri Anandpur Sahib as the 1^st solar city of India," Badal said.

According to Jagjit Puri, the state director of information, over 1,350 streetlights in 14 villages run on solar energy. Even the needs of the media centre were being fulfilled by solar energy, he said.

The Punjab government and the Union ministry of non-conventional energy sources are jointly funding the project, worth Rs 20 million.

As part of its effort to set up various solar photovoltaic systems at Sri Anandpur Sahib, PEDA has commissioned three 5KV photovoltaic power plants for solar lighting and to power Gurbani sign boards at the three important historic gurdwaras, Sri Keshgarh Sahib, Sri Anandpur Sahib and Sri Patalpuri Sahib.

These gurdwaras are provided with over 20,000 litres of hot water every day for the cleaning of utensils for the community kitchen.

Three-tier security rings has been planned to keep miscreants away. As a matter of abundant precaution all the vehicles are being screened and the pilgrims are being asked to deposit even their licensed arms with the local police and obtain a slip.

Over 60 water tankers are being deployed at various points in the city to ensure that no pilgrim suffers from heat exhaustion. To take care of any eventuality 25 fire tenders have been stationed at key points. In view of the heavy rush of pilgrims over 5,000 temporary toilets, 1,200 temporary urinals and 360 temporary baths have been made available.

"We have made all necessary arrangements to ensure that everything passes off peacefully and the pilgrims have a darshan of Takht Keshgarh Sahib on Baisakhi. But if any pilgrim still suffers some inconvenience, then I will fold my hands and ask for his or her forgiveness," Badal said.

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