Kartarpur Corridor: India to complete connecting highway, passenger terminal by October

The construction work on the 4.19 kilometres long four-lane highway connecting the zero point of the Kartarpur corridor to Gurdaspur-Amritsar Highway will be completed by September 30, while that on the Passenger Terminal Complex at Dera Baba Nanak will be completed by October 31, Ministry of Home Affairs said on Sunday.

Built with a budget of Rs 500 crore on a 15 acre land, the Passenger Terminal Complex have all public amenities to enable smooth passage of approximately 5,000 pilgrims per day.

"The Construction work for the Passenger Terminal Complex is in full swing with more than 250 labourers and 30 engineers at the site working in 3 shifts, aided by construction machinery such as batch mixing plant," a statement by the ministry read.

In a separate release, the MHA said that the four-lane long highway is being built at a cost of Rs 120 crore, and will connect Dera Baba Nanak from Gurdaspur-Amritsar Highway to International border.

In addition, the substructure construction work on the bridge on the Indian side has been completed. It may be noted that India had urged Pakistan to build a similar bridge on their side as it would provide safe and secure movement of the pilgrims while also addressing concerns over flooding of Dera Baba Nanak.

Following a meeting between the two sides on Sunday, Pakistan agreed in-principle to India's demand for the construction of the bridge.

The Kartarpur route along the India-Pakistan border is three kilometres away from Gurdaspur in Punjab. Once opened, it would allow Sikh pilgrims direct access to the historic Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur in Pakistan, where Guru Nanak Dev passed away in 1539.

Sunday's meeting between the officials of India and Pakistan also reviewed the progress reached in the three rounds of technical meeting that were held in March, April and May 2019. The two sides endorsed the crossing point or the 'zero point' coordinates that were agreed to at the technical level.