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Written by Attar Singh, Tribune News Service, Patiala
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Saturday, 19 April 2008 |
 Sheranwala Gate awaits inauguration even after three months of completion in Patiala.
The historic Sheranwala Gate, overlooking the Mall Road, is waiting to be inaugurated even though the imposing structure has been ready for almost three months now.
It was during former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s regime that the decision to have a new gate built near the head office of State Bank of Patiala was taken. The project ran into trouble even before it took off as the SBoP management moved court against it. It contended that the grandeur of the bank head office building would be lost in case a huge structure was built next to it.
However, the court rejected the bank’s contention and the project got a green signal. Work on the gate was assigned to PWD which completed the project in a record period at the cost of Rs 46 lakh.
It is proposed that scriptures of Hindus, Sikhs, Mulims and Christians would be kept in the four rooms on the first floor of the gate where priests deputed by the Dharamarth Board would be responsible for taking care of the holy books. However, for reasons unknown, the entry to the first floor has been locked ever since the completion of the gate.
Municipal commissioner M.P. Arora today confirmed that the civic body had already taken over the structure following a resolution passed in the house of the corporation. He added that he was not sure when the historical structure would be formally inaugurated. Even as the Sheranwala Gate awaits a formal inauguration, it has been thrown open to traffic. Traffic flow has been normal despite apprehensions in the minds of old timers who thought that the new building will prove to be a traffic bottleneck.
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