Sultanpur Lodhi gets holy city status

Kapurthala, Nov 30 (UNI) Punjab Government has conferred the holy city status to Sultanpur Lodhi where Guru Nanak Dev spent fourteen years of his early life and got enlightenment after a dip in the holy rivulet of Kali Bein.

Deputy Commissioner Raminder Singh said in a press conference that he received a communication today from the Home department saying the notification regarding the grant of holy city status to Sultanpur Lodhi would be issued from April 1 next year as the licenses of liquor vends would expire on March 31.

The DC's announcement was made in the presence of Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal, who had demanded the holy status in his meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh held in Chandigarh on May 30.

He said all the liquor vends, meat and cigarette shops from the walled city of Sultanpur Lodhi would be shifted outside the octroi after April 1 next year on the issuance of notification.

A special state-level committee would be formed soon for the over all development of Sultanpur Lodhi in view of it being declared a holy city, he said.

The government had already announced the holy status for Kali Bein and renamed it as holy Bein in October.

Reviewing the progress of stopping the sewerage water of towns and villages falling into the Holy Bein here today, the DC claimed that work of digging up ponds in villages by karsevaks of Baba Seechewal would be completed by the end of January next year.

Mr Singh also released Rs 25 lakh under the Bein project for various works and said a sum of Rs 1.75 crore had been released for stopping the flow of dirty water in the holy rivulet so far.

The DC and Baba Seechewal reiterated there was no plan to acquire the land of the villagers along the Bein rivulet in the name of green belt.

The DC said he had withdrawn a controversial letter written by the District Revenue Officer regarding the acquisition of land and directed the SDM Karnail Singh to inquire into the role of DRO in writing the controversial letter to the revenue officers and submit the report soon.

The DC today visited Sultanpur Lodhi to supervise the work of Holy Bein project.

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