Come November 8, 2019, and the historic town of Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab will witness a convergence of tens of thousands of pilgrims for four days.
To accommodate the pilgrims, many of whom will be coming from distant lands, a sprawling 30 acres of land has been transformed into a well-equipped Tented City, with a capacity to put up around 3,500 people a day.
This city within the city in Gurdaspur district is all set to welcome its pilgrim guests in a manner befitting the historic 550th birth anniversary celebration of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, with its 544 European-style tents, 100 Swiss cottages and 20 darbar-style accommodations.
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, who inspected the Tented City as well as the main tent on Thursday, expressed satisfaction at the arrangements, an official release said
The main tent has a capacity for 30,000 pilgrims, expected to converge here on each day of the Dera Baba Nanak Utsav, from November 8-11.
The chief minister also reviewed the public utility arrangements, including drinking water and langar facilities. The langar hall is designed to serve 1,500 people at a time, with a kitchen equipped with modern facilities.
The Tented City project, developed at a cost of Rs 4.2 crore, has a mix of European-type (EP) accommodation, which can take in six persons in each tent (with 140 separate bathrooms and 140 washrooms constructed to meet their basic needs), Swiss cottage (SC) for two persons each, with attached bathroom, and darbar tent (DT), also having attached bathroom, for accommodating four persons each.
The total accommodation works out to 3,544 people, of which 26 EP, 10 SC and 2 DT are for civil officials. Another 56 EP, 8 SC and 2 DT are designated for police officers.
One RO with 1,000 litre per hour capacity and 18 pagodas for water distribution will ensure safe drinking water for all, while a 125 Kv diesel generator set will provide uninterrupted power supply, according to an official spokesperson.
Other features of the Tent City include a registration room, a 'joda ghar' (a place where shoes of pilgrims are kept), a cloak room, a VIP Lounge and a fire station.
Registration is free and can be done both online and offline. Online booking will start on Saturday.
The chief minister was accompanied by state police chief Dinkar Gupta, Principal Secretary to CM Tejveer Singh, Gurdaspur Deputy Commissioner Vipul Ujwal and other ministers at the inspection.
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