Illegal hotels dent Heritage Street’s beauty

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, February 1

The move of a few hoteliers adding new floors to their establishments has dented the facade of the buildings alongside the Heritage Street, near the Golden Temple. The skyline of the buildings, having similar looks alongside the Heritage Street, finds itself accommodating skyrocketing buildings of hotels in the backdrop.

A major hotel building has come up recently at the backside of the government dispensary in Gheo Mandi. Such constructions degrade the facade as buildings alongside Heritage Street are meant to present an attractive look.

Davinder Singh from Ludhiana, a visitor, said, “The building is no match to the facade of the buildings alongside the Heritage Street and nearby areas, so the government should keep a check on such construction activities to save the beauty of the street.”

It is worth mentioning here that construction in the area has been banned. Even then illegal buildings come up in a few weeks.

The previous Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) government had spent Rs 160 crore on the Heritage Street leading to the Golden Temple.

The present government fails to maintain the beauty of the street. After waterlogging and breakage of tiles on the street, Congress leaders had levelled allegations on former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, accusing him of getting used substandard material. Now, the Congress is mum on influential hoteliers, who are damaging the Heritage Street skyline.

The MC has sealed several hotels in the area on the directions of the High Court but hoteliers continue to break the seals to continue with their operations.

Sandeep, a shopkeeper in the area, said, “The beauty of the Heritage Street won’’t survive for long if the officials concerned fail to check illegal constructions.”

Municipal Town Planner Iqbalpreet Singh Randhawa said, “As per the guidelines of the High Court, we have stopped the construction and sealed that portion of the building. If the building owner restarts construction, we will file a police complaint.”