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Govt. all set to boost religious tourism

Sarabjit Pandher

Tourism circuit of Sikh shrines in the offing

CHANDIGARH: MAY 15: While Union Ministry for Civil Aviation is engaged in preparing a blue print to put the State on the international flights' circuit, the Punjab government is all set to chalk out a road map to boost religious tourism keeping in view the tremendous potential within its boundaries as well in the neighbouring states, which has remained untapped so far.

Speaking on the occasion before the inauguration of direct flight of Air India from Delhi- Amritsar to Birmingham and Toronto, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said that the state government was seriously contemplating to develop religious tourism circuit of Sikh shrines, connecting Anandpur Sahib, Chamkaur Sahib, Fatehgarh Sahib, Takht Sri Damdama Sahib with the holy Harmandir Sahib at Amritsar. This would enable the devotees, especially those from abroad to undertake their pilgrimage without wasting time, money and energy.

Hindu shrines circuit

Similarly, another circuit of Hindu shrines from Naina Devi, Maisarkhana, Durgian Temple and Vaishnoo Devi would also be soon developed to promote religious tourism in a big way. He said that the activity would go a long way to apprise the younger generations of those settled all over the globe, especially in UK and Canada, about the importance of religious places besides our rich and glorious cultural heritage.

The Chief Minister said that though Punjab could not compete with its neighbouring Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan to offer opportunities in leisure tourism, the state was exploring ways and means to promote leisure tourism, through the public-private partnerships.

Demand fulfilled

Expressing his gratitude to the Union Civil Aviation Ministry, Capt. Singh said that with the launch of direct service of Air India from Amritsar to Birmingham and Toronto, the long standing demand of the Punjabi community had been fulfilled, as passengers from Punjab would be able to travel without any kind of hassles, which were routine while commuting between Delhi and Amritsar.

Capt. Singh also urged the Ministry to expedite the process of upgradation of the existing infrastructure at the Rajasansi International Airport at Amritsar to compete with the rest of international airports in the country. He also sought more important international direct as well as domestic flights from Amritsar to boost the trade and commerce activity in the region.

Airport upgradation

Crediting the initiation of the service from Amritsar to Capt Singh's efforts, the Union Civil Aviation Minister, Praful Patel assured that the facilities of the Amritsar airport would be upgraded, while its runway length would also be suitably augmented to meet the requirements of the larger aircrafts. However, this project could be delayed by another six months as the Ministry in consultation with Airport Authority of India (AAI) was preparing a blue print for its renovation keeping in view a long-term perspective due to the possible increase of air traffic in the near future.

Referring to the setting up of a green field airport at Laddowal between Ludhiana and Jalandhar, Mr. Patel said that this project had been cleared by the Union Government and was in the advanced stage of implementation. It would come up on the pattern of green field airports at Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Lucknow. Similarly, the Ministry was considering setting up an international airport at Chandigarh.

More flights

The Minister said that while the Air India was fully prepared to Delhi-Amritsar, Birmingham-Toronto flight operational on daily basis instead of present thrice a week, another direct international flight from Amritsar to Dubai was also on anvil. He mentioned that Air India had recently launched a direct flight from Kerala to Dubai and another direct flight from Kolkata to London was likely to be commenced shortly. These steps were part of the endeavour to start such more direct international flights from other places instead of Delhi and Mumbai to decongest the air traffic.

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Govt. all set to boost religious tourism

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