FOR THE 550TH BIRTH ANNIVERSARY (PARKASH UTSAV) CELEBRATIONS OF SHRI GURU NANAK DEV JI
AT SULTANPUR LODHI (DISTRICT KAPURTHALA)
FROM 1ST TO 15TH NOVEMBER, 2019

A. DEVELOPMENT WORKS UNDERTAKEN BY THE GOVT OF PUNJAB:

The 550th Birth Anniversary (Parkash Utsav) Celebrations of Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the first Sikh Guru, which started from the State-level function held at Sultanpur Lodhi on 23rd November 2018 on the occasion of 549th Birth Anniversary (Parkash Utsav) of Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, has reached the climax with the start of the State-level Celebrations on the 550th Birth Anniversary (Parkash Utsav) Celebrations from 1st November, 2019. The occasion is being celebrated with great devotion and fervour.

Various developmental works have been initiated by Govt. of Punjab across the state. Special projects are being undertaken in 70 villages and towns visited by Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji. Specifically in and around Sultanpur Lodhi following developmental projects have been undertaken by various departments of the Govt of Punjab:

1. PWD (B&R):
*40 projects worth Rs. 150.38 crores undertaken;
*27 projects worth Rs. 77.14 crores inaugurated by Honble CM, Punjab on 31.10.2019 including widening and strengthening of six (06) roads (RS. 30.72 crores); two (03) pontoon bridges on Holy Bein (RS. 198.73 lacs); Rest House at Sultanpur Lodhi (Rs. 239.31 lacs); three (03) new high-level bridges (HLBs) on Holy Bein (RS. 935.15 lacs); special repair of thirteen (13) roads (RS. 3130.31 lacs); and two (02) pedestrian overbridges (footbridges) of RS. 138.15 lacs);
*38 projects completed till date except the construction of high-level bridge on creek on River Beas (Rs. 982.90 lacs) which will be completed by 31.12.2019 and the work of Pandal, Stages and 3 Tent Cities (Rs. 57.26 crores), which will be completed by 01.11.2019.

2. Local Govt:
*64 works amounting to Rs. 38.66 crores undertaken;
*55 works executed by Local Govt, out of which 48 works amounting to Rs. 19.55 crores completed.
*3 works alloted to Department of Water Supply & Sanitation amounting to Rs. 405.73 lacs completed;
*1 work of New Bus Stand at Sultanpur Lodhi  for Rs. 573 lacs, executed by PRTC, completed;
*5 works assigned to Punjab Water Supply & Sewerage Board (PWSSB) are yet to be completed.

3. Department of Forests & Wildlife Preservation:
*Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji Bio-diversity Park, Bir Shikargah, District Kapurthala for Rs. 135 lacs stands inaugurated by Honble CM on 31.10.2019.

4. Department of Power:
*New 66KV Power Substation of capacity 20MVA at Sultanpur Lodhi inaugurated by Honble CM (Rs. 1200 lacs) on 31.10.2019

5. Department of Water Resources:
*Both the sides of Holy Bein near Gurdwara Shri Ber Sahib lined with stone pitching (6500 ft at Rs. 3.66 crore)
*For the safety of pilgrims, both the sides of Holy Bein from Gurdwara Shri Ber Sahib to Gurdwara Shri Sant Ghat Sahib (16000 sq ft at Rs. 2.25 crores)
*The work of cleaning of Holy Bein in between reach RD 43700-237000 has been cleaned of wild weeds in October, 2019

B. FACILITIES BEING OFFERED FOR THE CONVENIENCE OF THE PILGRIMS:

*19 parkings have been set up in land measuring over 800 acres in and around Sultanpur Lodhi for parking of vehicles;
*3 Tent Cities have been set up on the three approach to Sultanpur Lodhi town (on Talwandi Chaudhrian road from traffic coming from Majha side; on Lohian road for traffic coming from Malwa side; and on Kapurthala road for traffic coming from Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and districts situated along side Amritsar-Jalandhar-Delhi NH. Each Tent City is offering 4 Accommodation options viz. 2-bed cubicles, 4-bed family rooms and 15-bed & 60-bed dormitories. Total Accommodation available in the three Tent Cities is 35,000.
*1908 toilets, 1476 urinals and 132 bathing units (total 3516 units) being installed in parkings, outside major Gurdwaras in Sultanpur Lodhi, alongside major roads and at langar sites in and around Sultanpur Lodhi town for the convenience of pilgrims. This is over and above the toilets and bathrooms inside the tent cities.
*For drinking water supply arrangements at langar sites, parkings, outside major Gurdwaras and major roads, 8 tubewell with distribution network and machinery installed, along with 131 HDPE Storage tanks (5000 liters each) and 107 stainless steel troughs with battery of taps (10 taps per trough)
*10 water ATMs installed by Pi-LO.
*Municipal Council, Sultanpur Lodhi has provided and fixed 370 LED street light points at various main roads in the town, in addition to 16m high-mast LED light at 8 major chowks in the city and 32 traffic blinkers, along with replacement of all 1710 existing street light points in the city.
*For round the clock cleanliness and hygiene in the city, Local Govt department has got stationed 4550 sanitation workers starting from the outer parkings towards city.
*Department of Water Supply and Sanitation, Punjab has got stationed staff of over 1100 for round the clock cleanliness of toilets, urinals and bathrooms.
*Lighting arrangements made all along Holy Bein between Gurdwara Shri Ber Sahib and Gurdwara Shri Sant Ghat Sahib.
*For lifting of garbage, MC, Sultanpur Lodhi has deployed 26 Tata Ace vehicles, 14 tractor trollies, 45 e-rehris, 54 rickshaw rehris, 2 JCBs, 160 dustbins of size 4'x4'x4' and 2390 dustbins of 20kg each.
*MC, Sultanpur Lodhi has provided 250 honeycomb bio-compostable pits at over 66 langar sites for bio-compsting of kitchen waste.
*The entire sewerage system of the town has been cleaned before the monsoons by MC, Sultanpur Lodhi using Super Suction Machine at a cost of RS. 26 lakhs and post-monsoons, the sewerage system has been cleaned for the second time again to ensure zero-blockage of underground sewerage pipe infrastructure.
*For lifting of sullage/liquid waste from langar sites, parking sites and Tent Cities, Department of Water Supply and Sanitation has deployed over 100 trucks, which will collect the sewerage from septage chambers to the STPs at Makhu and Zira.
*Department of Transport has provided 300 buses (200 large buses + 100 mini buses) and 350 e-rickshaws to facilitate the movement of public.
*Upon alighting after parking their private vehicles at the outer parkings, the buses will ferry pilgrims from outer parkings to inner parkings. At inner parkings, the e-rickshaws will be available to ferry pilgrims to the Bus Stand, Sultanpur Lodhi
*From security point of view, the entire area, starting from the outer parkings, has been divided into 15 sectors (1 to 11, 1A to 4A) in which 26 control rooms have been set up at important locations such as parkings, major Gurdwaras, venues of main function and exhibitions, etc. for better monitoring, control and surveillance.
*Over 100 bicycles have been stationed at / near Gurudwara Shri Hatt Sahib, Gurudwara Shri Ber Sahib, Bus Stand and opposite SDM office for the use of public.
*A unique attempt has been made to facilitate the sangat through Charan Sewa where in after depositing their Jodas before darshan at parking, the pilgrims can pick another Joda from the parking itself to the Gurdwara Sahib’s Joda Ghar where they have to drop it in the designated collection point. After paying the obeisance, pilgrim can again pick up Joda from the designated Joda collection point till the parking and after depositing the Joda at the parking Joda Ghar that they picked up can take their own Jodas.
*To tackle any unforeseen incident and manage event of crisis, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), New Delhi has conducted 3 trainings and one mock drill (first training on 20th August, second training on 10th October, third training on 22nd October and mock drill on 25th October, 2019) in which officials of all the concerned departments including those deployed at the Control Rooms was conducted. 100 volunteer swimmers have been placed along the Holy Bein. Five teams of NDRF and 40 SDRF personnel have been put in place at sensitive locations.
*A total of 50 ambulances (30 four-wheeled fully equipped ambulances, out of which 2 have Cardiac Life Support and 20 bike ambulances) have also been placed. Total Health staff of 820 has been deployed including 150 doctors, 470 paramedics and 200 volunteers. For Primary health care, four private hospitals in Sultanpur Lodhi, and two nearby CHCs and four PHCs are there. For secondary health care, each Tent City will have a hospital each in addition to 16 private hospitals in District Kapurthala and Jalandhar, apart from Sub-divisional Hospital, Kapurthala and Civil Hospital, Kapurthala. For tertiary care, there are 22 private hospitals in Jalandhar apart from PIMS, Jalandhar and Military Hospital, Jalandhar Cantt, Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Amritsar and Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Faridkot.

C. BEAUTIFICATION INITIATIVES:
An exhaustive face lift has been given to the area in and around Sultanpur Lodhi as part of the beautification drive. Following are the initiatives undertaken in this pursuit:
• Over 200 grown up date palms have been planted at vantage locations within Sultanpur Lodhi town such as outside Gurdwara Shri Ber Sahib, Shaheed Udham Singh Chowk, outside Dana Mandi on Kapurthala-Sultanpur Lodhi Road. The main trunk of these date palms has been wrapped with decorative lighting. Also, about 200 coloured pots (with bottle palms) dot the Sultanpur Lodhi roadsides.
• Side walls alongside main roads of Sultanpur Lodhi town have been painted with art work (mural paintings and stencil art) based on the life and teachings of Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, Sikh heritage, Punjabi folk culture.
• Main chowks like Shaheed Udham Singh Chowk, Rotary Chowk in the city have been done up.
• A bus-shelter with seating capacity of 12 persons has been put up opposite the newly-constructed Bus Stand at Sultanpur Lodhi
• A Musical Environmental Park (with musical fountain) by the side of Holy Bein has been brought up for the attraction of the devotees and visitors.
• 24 decorative welcome gates have been erected with the help of Gram Panchayats on all the major roads of the district namely Sultanpur Lodhi-Lohian Road, Kapurthala-Sultanpur Lodhi Road, Sultanpur Lodhi-Goindwal Road, Kapurthala-Kartarpur Road, Jalandhar-Kapurthala Road and Phagwara to Sultanpur Lodhi via Jamsher-Nakodar Road.
• Another 08 decorative gates & 10 commemorative pillars (of size 5m X 4m X 1m) have been erected by the Tent City concessionaire in and around Sultanpur Lodhi.
• Also, translites, pylons, buntings, selfie points have been installed at conspicuous places with heavy visitor footfall.
• The road from PUDA Bridge up to Main Pandal will be adorned with ferry lights. A total of six (06) bridges, (2 foot bridges, 2 old high level and 2 high level new bridges) in Sultanpur Lodhi town, with heavy public footfall, have been decorated.

D. ATTRACTIONS FOR THE PILGRIMS AND VISITORS:
• To spread the word about life and teachings of Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, elaborate Digital Museum and Light & Sound show is being put near Shaheed Udham Singh Chowk, Sultanpur Lodhi from 1-3 November, 2019.
• The Sehaj Path at Main Pandal (Guru Nanak Darbar) shall start from 10.30AM onwards on 5th November, 2019
• Also a Multi-media Light and Sound Show (at Pandal Rabab near Main Pandal, “Guru Nanak Darbar”) from 4-12 November, 2019 is being organised.
• Other attractions include:
- Department of Tourism & Cultural Affairs, Punjab’s Exhibition on Guru Nanak Dev Ji (at Pandal Guru Nanak Chitr Darshan), which is being inaugurated at 12noon on 5th November;
- PSIEC’s Exhibition on Handicrafts, Industrial Products and Govt Programmes is being inaugurated at 12 Noon on 5th November, 2019.
- Mini Theatre in which the movies, documentary films and video clips on the life and times of Guru Nanak Dev Ji will be shown, is starting from 6th November onwards

E. IT INITIATIVES:

*Department of Governance Reforms, Govt. of Punjab has developed Web Portal (www.550YearsOfGuruNanakDevJi.com), which is primarily informative and has broader focus, is based on life, history and important events in the life of Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

*The District Administration has come up with event-specific Mobile App, "Parkash Utsav 550" for the use of pilgrims as well as government officials. It is a management, monitoring & control toolfor better management of the celebrations. It aims at local facilitation of pilgrims by providing them information on all aspects of the celebrations in Sultanpur  like Historical Places and Gurudwaras, Routes (How to Reach), Parking Points, Tent City, Accommodations, Bus Stands, Railway Stations, Local Shuttle Service, Hospital, Ambulances , Medical Facilities, Degh Ghar, Langar Hall, Exhibition Points, Help Desk and Control Room, Water and Sanitation Points, Jora Ghar etc. all emergency services like hospital, ambulances, first aid points, lost and found centres and control rooms etc. will be a click away on this app.

*To ensure seamless and uninterrupted mobile connectivity during this mega-occasion, the mobile network infrastructure has been more than doubled. There were 27 Base Transmission Sites (BTS) of the four mobile network operators before the start of the event, to which 6 BTS, 17 Connectivity on Wheels (CoW) sites and 15 Small Cells have been added primarily in the Tent Cities, Parking Sites, near Main Pandal and outside major Gurdwaras. As of now, there are 33 BTS, 17 CoW sites and 15 Small Cells (total 65 sites) in and around Sultanpur Lodhi.

F. TRAFFIC AND SECURITY:
Considering the influx of a huge number of devotees and pilgrims during the celeberations, Punjab Police has taken care of all the crucial points viz traffic movement, traffic control, movement of persons, parking processes, law and order arrangements etc to provide a safe and convenient visit to the event during celebrations. A thorough and a well planned arrangement based on inputs from experts and factoring the unique geographical, location and event duration aspects has been made out.
•Traffic management: 
The traffic circulation has been segmented into independent routes for Invitees, General public, Service & emergency vehicles with colour coded entry passes for safe and easy access to dedicated routes. Uneven terrain, width of roads and approaches to Sultanpur Lodhi, influx of pilgrims and invitees during the celebrations have been the crucial factors in determining the traffic circulation which will be strictly according to the colour coded passes. In and out points have been thoughtfully kept separate as well.
Also the whole area is divided concentrically into outer pakings, inner parkings and area beyond inner parkings towards various Gurudwaras and core of the town. After reaching the outer parkings, busses will ply the pilgrims and devotees to the inner parkings and from the inner parkings to further distance shall be covered by foot or by e- rickshaws will be available for senior citizens.
• Parkings
Major parkings are provisioned on three approach routes of the town on Talwandi Chaudhrian Road, near Thind Palace, Kapurthala Road, near Didwindi and Gidderpindi Road, opposite FCI godowns, near Lohian. All public vehicular traffic shall terminate at these parkings and further transport for public arranged on Shuttle buses to inner city parking. Further last mile shall be on foot and e-rickshaws for elderly and infirm visitors.
Also to ensure hassle free access to pilgrims and devotees on foot, providing ample space for their movement across the holy town, the local residents too have been given green coloured vehicular pass. The vehicles shall not be allowed to be parked along the roadside, in front of houses or elsewhere in streets etc. All such vehicles of the residents which were parked outside their houses shall be parked only in the designated parkings.
• Smart surveillance
Apart from conventional surveillance modes, Punjab Police has utilized digital technology interventions based on Artificial Intelligence platforms to modernize and augment the policing operations during the event. Approximately 500 cameras in various control rooms have been put. More than 7000 men in uniform have been deployed. Advanced round the clock video surveillance through 26 sector control rooms and one centralized ICCC will be done.
GPS based location tracking of the emergency service vehicles like ambulances, fire tenders, recovery vehicles and busses etc has been done.
Public Address Systems, drone surveillance and emergency response services constitute the deployment.
Considering the topography and to ensure minimum TAT arrangements foot patrolling, two wheeler patrolling and four wheeler patrolling have been made.  Watch towers and QRTs at all vital locations have been placed aswell.

•ICCC
State of the Art Integrated Command & Control Centre (ICCC) has been set up near Guru Nanak Darbar Hall for surveillance and monitoring and prompt decision making on critical alerts or emergency situations. It is connected to all the other control rooms through a dedicated leased line.

Do's and Donts
• Government of Punjab has declared Sultanpur Lodhi as the first “single use plastic free” town of Punjab. The langar organizers have been requested to use only the bio-degradable plates (pattals) and glasses for serving langar. All the visitors are requested through media to shun the use of non-biodegradable material such as plastic or thermocol.
• A very meticulous traffic management plan has been chalked out. It is requested that all follow traffic rules to avoid congestion and inconvenience.
• Similarly pilgrims, devotees, invitees including the residents are requested to follow traffic guidelines as explained and laid down to provide a freer and open passage for the pilgrims.
• Area after inner parking is strictly for walking and is exclusive e- rickshaw zone.
• Emergency Helpline number is 112.
• For general information, the Helpline number is 1800-1800-550.