Amritsar: Shanties outside Lohgarh Gate an eyesore

Tribune News Service

Neeraj Bagga

Amritsar, May 17

A large number of shanties have come up outside the Lohgarh Gate which are an eyesore for visitors. Migrants living in these makeshift houses seek alms at nearby temples and a cow shelter.

Notably, the number of shanties have increased manifold in the last three to four years despite the location of a defence installation here.

Vijay, a resident of the area, said a large number of devotees visit the cow shelter and distribute alms among beggars. It attracted a large number of alms seekers, especially on auspicious occasions. Around four years ago, a shanty was set up on the pavement, opposite the cow shelter. Gradually, more makeshift houses started coming up with the passage of time. Now, they have almost encroached upon the entire stretch of the pavement from the cow shelter to the Regional Transport Office.

Tarsem Singh, a visitor at the Gobindgarh Fort, which is situated close to the makeshift houses, said untidy makeshift houses create unhygienic conditions around. The entire stretch has become an eyesore and would have a negative impact on visitors. “It is a failure on the part of the district authorities to ignore the trend of such makeshift housing initially,” he said. Now, the numbers have swelled and removing these could cause law and order problems.

Manohar Lal, a senior citizen, said the government and its departments concerned were inherently in the habit of taking cognisance of the malaise when things go out of control. Narrating an old instance of closely situated Gol Bagh, he recalled that shanties had come up there three to four decades ago in a similar fashion. Eventually, the government had to shift these to the outskirts of the city and raise dwellings there.

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