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Nanded shrine management finds it tough to send Sikh pilgrims back
In a fresh tweet, the Punjab CM also requested his Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh counterparts Ashok Gehlot and Shivraj Chouhan to facilitate the pilgrims to travel through their states
Even as Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh reiterated that his government is working to ensure the return of Sikh pilgrims stuck at Takht Hazur Sahib in Nanded, Maharashtra, it is turning out to be an uphill task for the shrine management to ensure passage to the devotees from various states.
Bhupinder Singh Minhas, president of the Takht Sri Hazur Sahib Management Board, said, “Though the Punjab government is working to bring back the stranded pilgrims and has approached Union home minister Amit Shah and Maharashtra CM Udhav Thackeray, there is a confusion because all these things are verbal and we have not get anything in written.”
“Still, we have arranged 15 buses and 15 Tempo Travelers which will leave for Punjab with nearly 1000 pilgrims aboard on Friday because the Punjab government has taken the entire responsibility of ensuring passage to them from Nanded. We have been advised by the Maharashtra government to not send the pilgrims in one go. We will be able to send them in groups”, he added.
In a fresh tweet, the Punjab CM also requested his Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh counterparts Ashok Gehlot and Shivraj Chouhan to facilitate the pilgrims to travel through their states.
As per the management, over 4,000 pilgrims are stranded at Nanded and are staying at serais there.
“Everything we are hearing is from the online news channels. We have already spent money on booking train tickets twice for which no refund was made by the railways. We cannot afford to go back by hiring private taxis or buses,” said Kulwant Singh, a pilgrim from Amritsar.
ALLOW SAFE PASSAGE TO PILGRIMS
Chandigarh: Punjab has requested the Maharashtra government on Thursday to allow safe passage to over 3,000 pilgrims from the state, who are stranded in Nanded due to lockdown in wake of COVID-19. An official spokesperson said the request was made by additional chief secretary, home, Satish Chandra to Maharashtra government through a letter who also informed them that pilgrims would return to the state by bus. Likewise, the governments of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have also been requested to facilitate the hassle free return of the pilgrims.
