With the district administration keen on playing a perfect host to tourists converging on Amritsar, the residents have been promised a detailed plan to make the holy city more attractive by developing more places of interest.

“The idea is that the city should have more places of interest besides the Golden Temple and Wagah border,” says the Deputy Commissioner Kahan Singh Pannu.

The district administration is looking forward to handing over of the Gobindgarh Fort to it so that its complete revamp could be initiated. Beautification of the surroundings of the Golden Temples, construction of public toilets in the area and better management of traffic would also be given priority.

“The formalities for handing over of the Gobindgarh Fort from the Army to the state government would be completed shortly. Once the district administration gets possession of the fort, the task of beautification of the entire area would be assigned to a private party,” says Pannu.

The fort is likely to be thrown open to the public by the April-end and its phansi ghar (hanging place), keelar gate and prison cells would definitely generate interest. It was Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who initiated the move to hand over the fort to the Punjab government.

Presently, whitewashing work and construction of the inner boundary wall of the fort is being carried out in full swing by the tourism department. The district administration has called a meeting of senior officials to plan out the opening ceremony of the Gobindgarh Fort.

“Development of the ‘galiara’ around the Golden Temple is also on the cards and the administration also plans to provide better public amenities to tourists coming to the city,” he adds.

It had been a long-pending demand of the residents, especially freedom fighters, that the Gobindgarh Fort is handed over to the district administration so that it is opened for public viewing.

“The fort, which is a landmark in the pre-independence history of the country, has a large area which can be developed to attract tourists keen on getting a peep into the by-gone era. A detailed plan would be worked out to develop the place so that it can become an independent tourist place,” says Pannu.

The historic fort dates back to 1760, which was built by Sikh warrior Gujjar Singh, till it was taken over by the British government in 1849 and maintained by the Army since Independence.

The fort also was the official residence of the British commander, Gen Dyer, whose name is associated with the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre.

The British army had added Darbar Hall, Hawa Mehal and Phansi Ghar to the fort after the annexation of Punjab. After Partition, the fort provided a temporary shelter to a large number of refugees from Pakistan. In October 1948, the fort was handed over to the Indian Army.

The Toshakhana, in the centre of the fort, also stored a large amount of grains and provisions for the 12,000-strong army. The fort was constructed with brick and lime with numerous army bastions and iron gates with 25 cannons on the ramparts, now replaced with modern weaponry.

“Unlike Chandigarh, where the locals can take their relatives and friends from outside to Rose Garden or Rock Garden or Sukhna Lake, Amritsar city doesn’t have many places tourist places to boast of,” he says.

“Traffic bottlenecks would also be dealt with as part of the beautification plan for the city. It is definitely a hurdle in making the city a perfect tourist destination and a concerted effort would be made to ensure smooth flow of traffic,” says the Deputy Commissioner.

Municipal Commissioner Hussan Lal adds that a meeting would soon be held with the district administration to plan out beautification in collaboration with the district administration.

Most of the welfare associations, however, feel that besides developing more tourists places, the administration should concentrate on evolving an effective garbage disposal system and repair of potholed roads so that the overall look of the city is improved.