Being developed to give a face lift to the holiest shrine of the Sikh community, the Golden Temple entrance plaza, is expected to be opened for public access from Diwali festival onwards.
The beautification project, which is at the advanced stage of completion has come up on 8250 sq meters at a cost of nearly Rs 78 crore.
The project, which was launched in May 2011, is being developed by a private agency that was hired by the Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board. The Deputy Chief Minister, Sukhbir Singh Badal, has been personally supervising the project since its inception.
While the first phase of the plaza entails providing seating facilities around trees and fountains in the landscaped area in front of the clock tower side entry of the shrine, the second phase would include constructing a basement, which would have a state of the art information and interpretation facilities for tourists, multi-purpose hall, banking, railways and airline booking services and public conveniences.
It would also provide for a separate VIP lounge and provide a conference hall for dignitaries to interact with the media as well as hold meetings. Service lanes around the shrine would come up to cater to the needs of the devotees. Mr. Badal who recently visited the plaza site to take stock of ongoing construction, asked the authorities to ensure the completion well before Diwali.
