AMRITSAR SAHIB—An unfortunate accident at Gurdwara Chevi Pathshahi Miri Piri Singh Sabha in Village Chakrala near Kartarpur Sahib resulted in the burning of 4 saroops of Guru Granth Sahib, 8 Sanchis and around 50 Gutkas, due to an electric short circuit.
The unfortunate incident has put pressure on the SGPC to ensure such incidents do not take place in future. SGPC enjoys control over income of most of the Gurdwaras in Punjab. Therefore it becomes the responsibility of SGPC to ensure Gurdwaras and other religious institutions are properly setup to avoid such incidents.
In response to the mishap, Avtar Makkar (President SGPC) called upon Gurdwara committees to take strict measures to ensure the safety of Gurdwaras and scriptures. He expressed sorrow over this occurrence but failed to establish any immediate measure to safeguard the Gurdwaras and saroops of Guru Sahib and other scriptures. Instead, he called upon local Gurdwaras and Sikh Societies to check for the wiring and remove any shortcomings if present, as early as possible.
one possible solution can be to hold the saroops in glass or special fire proof reinforced cabinets less chance of them getting harmed after they are put away.