Amritsar’s 99-year-old library faces neglect, sees decline in visitors
Amritsar’s 99-year-old Pandit Moti Lal Nehru Municipal Library, a treasure trove of 20,000 books on Punjabi literature, the Partition of British India and biographies in English, Hindi and Urdu, is witnessing a drastic decline in number of readers due to negligence of authorities.
One of the biggest and oldest libraries in the city, built in 1920, it is housed in a double-storey building in the historic Town Hall, Heritage Street in Amritsar, a five-minute walk from the Golden Temple.
However, the library, which can seat a hundred people, not only has been waiting for newly published books over the past two years, but is begging a makeover in infrastructure as the building is in dilapidated condition.
Librarian Aanchal Sharma said, “The library which earlier saw 700 readers daily, now only records 100 readers. It also lacks computer and internet facility. People are also unable to locate the library,” Sharma said.
The government is also proposing to shift the library to a new place but the decision has not gone down well with the readers.
When contacted, mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu said, “I will work to provide requisite facilities and new books to the library and plans have been made to renovate the building.”
Less time to read?
Try Quickreads
-
Uneven spread of parks in Delhi: 2.3K in South Delhi, 142 in north-east
The Capital has over 18,000 parks and gardens, but most of them are concentrated in just five districts, a new analysis has found, with the fewest such spaces in the congested north-east Delhi region, throwing up concerns over the inequitable spread of green patches in the rapidly expanding margins of the city. West Delhi is second, with such spots spread over 6.6% of the district and East Delhi third with 6.3%.
-
A year has passed since the day a 9-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly raped and murdered inside a crematorium in west Delhi's Delhi Cantonment area. The girl's mother has still kept her clothes. She says that she will immerse them in the Ganga, but only after the court decides on the fate of four men who raped and murdered her daughter. The four accused are lodged in Tihar Jail.
-
Banda boat tragedy: Death toll rises to 12; three still missing
The death toll in the Banda boat tragedy rose to 12 on Sunday after one more body was recovered three days after the fateful mishap in the Yamuna river on August 11. Three more bodies are still missing and search operations were going on, Banda superintendent of police Abhinandan said. “Three bodies are missing. The search operation by the NDRF, SDRF and PAC divers are underway,” he said.
-
Maharashtra: Maratha reservation activist and MLC Vinayak Mete dies in accident
Vinayak Mete, Maharashtra legislative council member and leader of pro-Maratha outfit Shiv Sangram, died early on Sunday morning when the SUV he was travelling in met with an accident near Bhatan tunnel in Raigad district on the Pune-Mumbai expressway. While the driver escaped unhurt, he alleged that the highway control room did not respond. Expressway police officials claimed that Mete's driver was trying to overtake another vehicle when the accident took place.
-
'Role model for investors': Karnataka CM's rich tribute to Rakesh Jhunjhunwala
Veteran investor and billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala died on Sunday morning at 62, prompting an outburst of condolences across the country. Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj S Bommai remembered the business magnate as "a role model for young investors". Karnataka health minister K Sudhakar also paid tributes to the ace investor. The minister defined Jhunjhunwala as the Warren Buffet of India and he even paid condolences to his family. He was reported to be battling health issues.
