Punjab Public Works Minister, Vijay Inder Singla, on Saturday said the construction of Kartarpur Corridor will be completed by 30 September.

The minister said this after reviewing the progress of the construction of Kartarpur Corridor. After a detailed inspection of the site, Singla informed that with earth filling up to two metres in height, 25 per cent of the construction work of the road has been accomplished.

He said that the entire construction of the passage would be accomplished by September 30, well in time before the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev.

Giving an insight into the facilities for the pilgrims, the minister said that world-class infrastructure would be in place to facilitate the devotees, who are expected to pay obeisance at Sri Kartarpur Sahib via this corridor.

Singla said that the construction of the corridor will be on par with a state of art expressway. The total length of the corridor is 4.2 kilometre (km) with 3.6 km being the linear stretch which would be equipped with median lights, carriageway and raised footpaths on both sides.

The remaining 0.6 km stretch comprises of the approach roads from the historical Gurudwara Sahib in Dera Baba Nanak and that from BSF Check Post.

Keeping in view the inflow of pilgrims from all quarters, the approach roads to Dera Baba Nanak from Batala, Fatehgarh Churian and Ramdas are also being strengthened and upgraded to facilitate the pilgrims, he said.

Divulging into statistical details he informed that 62 acres of land has been acquired for the project approximately at the rate of Rs 42 lakh per acre amounting to Rs 26.04 crore as the total land cost incurred.

Besides, civil works to the tune of Rs 90 crore approximately are also under progress resulting in a cumulative expenditure of nearly Rs 116 crore on the project.

Singla further said that 50 acres of additional land is also being acquired for the construction of Integrated Check Post (ICP) by Land Port Authority of India.

The first Sikh Guru Nanak Dev spent 18 years until his death in 1539 at Gurudwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur in Pakistan’s Narowal district. This historic gurdwara stands on the bank of the Ravi and is just about four kilometres from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Punjab’s Gurdaspur. Sikh pilgrims from India travel to Pakistan for visiting this shrine.

As the shrine is visible from the Indian side, Sikhs gather in large numbers for darshan of the shrine by using binoculars installed at Gurdwara Dera Baba Nanak.