RailEnquiry

Fatehgarh Sahib: Once a tourist attraction, the Bougainvillea Floating Restaurant at Sirhind on the Delhi-Amritsar national highway is in a dilapidated condition. No restoration work has been carried out for the past many years.The foundation stone of the restaurant was laid by the late Giani Zail Singh on July 22, 1976. The restaurant had night-stay facilities but all its eight rooms have been closed now.A part of the restaurant resting on steel tubes and floating in the Bhakra waters has been weakened with rust.The roof of the restaurant, made of steel sheets, has corroded as it has not been given a fresh coat of paint since years. The roof starts leaking even after a drizzle.The Delhi-Lahore bus daily halts at the restaurant to help passengers take breakfast or lunch.The restaurant, earlier under the control of the Punjab Tourism Corporation, was later handed over to the Punjab Heritage Tourism Promotion Board.Sources say the restaurant is expected to be renovated soon. It will be run by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) in collaboration with the Punjab Government.One of the managers at the restaurant said that estimates for the renovation work had already been sent to the higher authorities.A group of employees, pleading anonymity, said they had received their salary through a contractor. They said they were being forced to sign on a paper, showing higher remuneration.