JAMMU: To review and take stock of the arrangements put in place for ongoing Shri Amarnath Yatra, Minister of State for Education, Culture, Tourism, Floriculture and Parks, Priya Sethi on Wednesday took an extensive tour of different facilitation points established by the administration for the Yatris.
The minister started her visit from the Yatri Niwas, Bhagwati Nagar and later visited Sangam Palace, Vaishnavi Dham, Railway Station, Purani Mandi temple and Mahajan Hall.
Commissioner, JMC Mandeep Kaur, Deputy Commissioner, Jammu Simrandeep Singh, Director, Tourism, Jammu Sushma Chauhan, senior officers from civil and police administration, Tourism and other line departments accompanied the minister during the visit
While interacting with Yatris at Bhagwati Nagar, Sethi said that the government is well equaled to ensure smooth conduct of the Yatra and foolproof security arrangements have been put in place to ensure safety and security of the pilgrims. She directed the administration to ensure that all registered Yatris are cleared for onward journey to the cave shrine and all required facilities are made available for their comfortable stay in the Yatri Niwas. “Due to unfortunate incidents in the valley the Yatra had to be suspended for some time but now that the government has made all required arrangements and the Yatra has resumed as per routine,” she said. he said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken a high level review meeting concerning the present condition in the state and has extended all necessary support to the state government for improving the law and order situation in the state. She went around the Yatri Bhawan and visited dormitories, Langar hall and reviewed other facilities for the Yatris. She issued directions to the Commissioner, JMC for ensuring proper hygiene and cleanliness in the Yatri Bhawan premises. She inquired about the arrangements and directed the Director, Tourism to explore options for establishing one more Langar facility within the complex of the Yatri Bhawan.
Underscoring the need to ensure best facilities for the Yatris, Sethi said the administration has made elaborate arrangements for the Yatra and besides Bhagwati Nagar, camps have also been established at other locations at Vaishnavi Dham, Purani Mandi, Mahajan Hall and from this year a separate counter has been established at Sangam palace for spot registration of the Yatra daily quota. “To ensure that visiting pilgrims get to know more about our local tourist destination, from this year we have started Jammu Darshan bus service and the visiting Yatris are visiting Suchetgarh border, Raghunath Temple, Balidan Stambh and other such tourist destinations,” she added.
She said Yatris are giving positive feedback of the arrangements and the administration would leave no stone unturned to make their stay comfortable during the Yatra. She said in her interaction with Yatris in Srinagar, TRC and other locations, the Yatris have expressed satisfaction about the arrangements and over 25,000 Yatris who were stuck due to unrest in valley have already been cleared.