NAROWAL: Three-day rituals of the 479th death anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak Dev Ji began at Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur, Shakargarh tehsil, on Wednesday.

Sikh yatrees (devotees) from all over the country and abroad are arriving at Kartarpur to attend the three-day rituals of the 479th death anniversary of the founder of their faith.

The Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) officials claim that they have made all the preparations for a comfortable stay and dining of the devotees arriving to attend the rituals. The devotees are being served food items and fruit juices, they say.

The District Health Authority has established a medical camp at the Darbar Sahib to provide medicines to the sick and to help the devotees in case of any emergency. Similarly, the staffers of Shakargarh Municipal Committee are taking care of cleanliness and sanitation there.

The district police claimed to have made fool-proof security arrangements for the three-day event. In this connection, the police have erected barriers and set up checkpoints on the 2.5km-long main Narowal Road leading to Darbar Sahib to check the entry of irrelevant and suspicious persons.

Walk-through gates and CCTV cameras have also been installed on and around the premises and a monitoring room has been set up to monitor the event.

Policemen in civvies have also been deployed.

According to official estimates, some 3,000 Sikh devotees will attend the concluding ceremony of the event on Sept 22.

Personnel of Civil Defence, Bomb Disposal Squad, Rescue 1122 and fire-brigade are also on alert to meet any emergency, officials said.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2018