Penang gurdwaras spared from major flood damage, clean up underway

| Penang, Malaysia | 16 Sept 2017 | Asia Samachar

The darbar sahib (prayer halls) of both gurdwaras hit by the massive flooding in Penang yesterday were spared from damage.

Volunteers from Gurdwara Polis Sikh Pulau Pinang and Gurdwara Sahib Khalsa Dharmik Jatha began the clean-up exercise last night itself, continuing the remaining tasks today.

“The water level was about six inches short of entering the darbar sahib (prayer hall),” one of the police gurdwara volunteers told Asia Samachar when contacted today.

Over at the Khalsa Dharmik, the gurdwara secretary Nagindar Singh said flood waters in the past used to reach the street in front of the gurdwara.

This is a flood prone area. This time, though, it came into the gurdwara compound, but the darbar sahib was spared from any damage,” said the long-serving 76-year old gurdwara committee member.

The island of Penang was hit by a tropical storm when the tailwind of Typhoon Doksuri, which lashed Vietnam, swept across the north of the peninsula. The Malaysian states of Kedah, Perlis and Penang were hit by the downpour that the tailwind brought, which lasted from Thursday night until yesterday evening.

“We’ve not witnessed such flooding for a long time,” said one police gurdwara volunteer. “The gurdwara elders had raised the height of the darbar sahib more than two decades ago. That spared the darbar sahib, but the kitchen, store and caretaker’s space was run over by the flood waters.”

The Penang police gurdwara runs weekly programmes on Friday evenings (6.30pm-8.30pm) and Sunday mornings (Asa Di Vaar, 6.30am-8.30am).

The Penang police gurdwara management committee (GMC) is led by ASP Balber Singh and ASP Dalbir Singh as its president and deputy president, respectively. The other key officials are Srg Lakhbir Singh as secretary and Srgt Baghwan Singh as treasurer. The GMC at Khalsa Dharmik is led by Baljit Singh.

The other two gurdwaras on the Penang island are Wadda Gurdwara Sahib Penang, which is situated on a higher ground, and and the newly built Gurdwara Sahib Bayan Baru.

[ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs in Southeast Asia and surrounding countries. We have a Facebook page, do give it a LIKE. Follow us on Twitter. Visit our website: www.asiasamachar.com]

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