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Month after Covid-19 lockdown, stranded Sikh pilgrims on their way back to Punjab from Takht Hazur Sahib
After Centre’s intervention, first fleet of 10 buses carrying 300 pilgrims started from Nanded on Thursday night and will reach Punjab, Haryana and Delhi by Saturday evening; nearly 2,400 pilgrims are stuck in Maharashtra
MUMBAI: After the central government’s intervention, the Maharashtra Government has begun the process of sending stranded Sikh pilgrims from Nanded’s Takht Hazur Sahib to their native places in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi.
Ten buses carrying 300 pilgrims started from Nanded on Thursday night and are expected to reach Punjab, Haryana and Delhi by Saturday evening.
Nearly 2,400 pilgrims are stuck at Nanded, according to the local authorities.
“We have started the process of sending them back,” said Bhushan Gagarani, the principal secretary in the Maharashtra chief minister’s office.
Public works department minister Ashok Chavan said the Union cabinet secretary had informed the state government about the nod for the inter-state passage of the pilgrims.
Bhupinder Singh Manhas, the president of the shrine’s management board, said: “Around 400 pilgrims were stranded at the gurdwara after the Covid-19 lockdown announced by the Maharashtra and central governments last month. The gurdwara management has taken care of their stay, food and now transportation.”
He said that the permission was given after Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh took up the matter with his counterpart in Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray and Union home minister Amit Shah.
“We are sending them in batches of 300 each in 10 buses every day. The gurdwara board has organised around 150 buses that will be run over the next few days. The second fleet of 10 buses leaves Nanded on Friday evening,” said Ravinder Singh Bumgai, the secretary of the Sikh Gurdwara Takht Sachkhand Shri Hazur Abchal Nagar Sahib Board, Nanded.
The shrine, which is on the banks of the Godavari river in the Marathwada region, is among the holiest ones for the Sikh community as Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Guru, left for his heavenly abode (parlok gaman) from here on October 7, 1708.
