Punjab’s first floating restaurant at Sirhind in deep waters

The eight-room eatery in the middle of canal once became a place of attraction among commuters and tourists alike

Once considered a landmark on the Amritsar-Delhi highway, Punjab’s first floating restaurant at Sirhind in Fatehgarh Sahib district is in a shambles with no proper approach road.

The floating restaurant building at Sirhind in Fatehgarh Sahib district.

Due to its uniqueness, the eight-room eatery in the middle of the Bhakra mainline canal hit the headlines in the 1970s and went on to become a place of attraction among commuters and tourists alike.

Not only this, the restaurant run by the Punjab tourism department was once a stopover of buses running between India and Pakistan. But with the widening of the national highway and high twin-bridges on the canal, the restaurant lost its approach road and is no more visible from the main road.

The idea of building the floating steel structure was conceived by architects Jeet Malhotra and Amar Rajinder Singh of the state department of architecture in 1971.

Completed in 1972, the structure with a vaulted roof rests on a wooden deck which floats on five cylinders tied together. The deck served as an extension of an indoor seating area and is bridged to both canal banks. It was inaugurated by the then chief minister Zail Singh and remained his favourite stopover when he travelled on the highway.

“Had there been little coordination between the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and the Punjab government, this five-decade-old masterpiece would not have lost its charm. The helplessness of the state tourism department is evident because this complex has been shut completely,” said Surinder Bahga, an architect and former chairman of Indian Institute of Architects.

Sanjay Bansal, an industrialist from Sirhind, said “Due to a lackadaisical approach of the authorities concerned, the tourist attraction has been left to decay. The state government should at least preserve such structure for their heritage value.”

Public works department (PWD) superintending engineer Parvinderjit Singh said matter he will take it up the matter with the NHAI to ensure passage for this architectural marvel.