City hotels packed ahead of Gurpurb

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, November 11

A day ahead of the historic Gurpurb of Guru Nanak Dev, hotel occupancy in the city has surged remarkably.

Satnam Singh Kanda, Chairman of Walled City Hotel Association, said footfall of devotees was more than fifty per cent higher than last year’s level. He said after visiting Gurdwara Kartarpur, Dera Baba Nanak and Sultanpur Lodhi, devotees were visiting the Golden Temple. He added that exact calculation of devotees would always be incomplete as many were staying at Golden Temple, Gudwara Diwan Hall Manji Sahib and other parts of the holy city. Amritsar Hotel and Restaurant Association (Civil Lines) president APS Chatha said room occupancy doubled in its 80 member hotels in comparison to daily average of 35 per cent occupancy.

He, however, said the increase was not in consonance with the hype created by the government. He held the government responsible for failing to handle the rush of devotees at Sultanpur Lodhi, where tent city was put up nine kilometers out of the town and rain had exposed its claim of water-proof tents. Though a limited number of devotees are crossing the Kartarpur corridor this time, their pace will pick up gradually, especially after normalisation of the procedure, he said.

Chatha added that tourist circuit of the holy city would now be linked to Gurdwara Kartarpur and Sultanpur Lodhi.