Amritsar Culture & Tourism Development Authority meeting to be held on May 12

If everything goes as per the plan, then the district administration is all set to hold a meeting of the Amritsar Culture and Tourism Development Authority (ACTDA) on May 12. Years after the formation of the body it has hardly ever met to take stock of the tourism in Amritsar which is the backbone of the city’s economy. Director Tourism, Deputy Commissioner, Police Commissioner and Municipal Corporation Commissioner are its members.

Formed over eight years ago, working of the ACTDA is dormant as majority of tourist places remain under different government departments.

Rough estimate indicates that around one lakh tourists visit city daily. This figure soars on the weekend. Till date, the ACTDA’s jurisdiction is restricted to the Heritage Street and at the Golden Temple entrance plaza. The ACTDA neither has any office, nor staff. An interpretation centre is being run from the Plaza which has four galleries to digitally showcase history of the holiest Sikh shrine to 1,600 people simultaneously.

Various tourist sites in the holy city are being looked after by different agencies. For instance Maharaja Ranjit Singh Panorama is managed by the Municipal Corporation, while Maharaja Ranjit Singh Museum and Gobindgarh Fort by the Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs.

Sources said there was only one official of the ACTDA, the General Manager. That position had been lying vacant for over three years, the sources said. Now, there is no official of the authority in the city, which is categorised as the top most tourist destination in North India. As per the ACTDA Act, the authority had to work within a radius of 500 metre to 750 metre of the heritage, tourism and cultural sites like the Golden Temple, Durgiana Mandir, Valmiki Temple in the Ram Tirath area, Gobindgarh Fort, Town Hall, panorama and Urban Haat.

Amritsar