Welcoming the over delayed response of
the department of Culture, Govt. of
Punjab to the Amritsar Heritage Walk ,
Dr. Sukhdev Singh, Punjab State
Convener, Indian National Trust for Art
& Cultural Heritage (INTACH) said that
INTACH had identified the heritage walk
route in the walled city of Amritsar and
printed a brochure about a decade ago
when a team of INTACH was working on the
project for listing of historical
buildings in the Amritsar Walled city.
Since then thousands of people, both
Indian and foreigner, have walked with
the volunteers of INTACH Amritsar
chapter on the heritage walk route.
Several school students of Amritsar &
other towns have walked the route.
Everyone has liked it as a new
experience but has, at the same time,
rued the lackluster attitude of the
authorities in lacking to provide civic
amenities & cleanliness on the route.
The walk is a favourite with the
students of Oxford university, United
Sikhs, & several other organizations who
approach the INTACH Amritsar Chapter for
the walk even though they know the route
because it is not a commodity of tourism
as is any other. There is a way to
engage the walkers. It is not something
as tourists and tourist guides who are
concerned about their fee. The members
of INTACH Amritsar chapter do it on
voluntary basis without any charges from
the visitors. The main objective of the
INTACH chapter has been to draw the
attention of the owners, citizens,
social organizations, govt. and
bureaucracy to the built heritage in the
form of heritage zones.
The launching ceremony will not work as
a remedy for the crumbling heritage in
the walled city of Amritsar. Had it been
sufficient, there would be no problem
left by now because the DC Amritsar, the
Mayor Amritsar, several officials of the
department of culture have walked the
same route during the Amritsar Hertage
Festivals in the past.
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