STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, on Thursday visited Yatri Niwas at Bhagwati Nagar and reviewed arrangements put in place for the pilgrims of Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra.
The Lt Governor, who is also the Chairman of Shri Amarnath Ji Shrine Board, took stock of food and lodging of the pilgrims, security, functioning of Joint Control Room, langer stalls, registration counters, power and water supply, health facilities, sanitation, transportation, deployment of health and sanitation staff, installation of mobile toilets, fire tenders and emergency services.
Over 3 lakh pilgrims have so far registered for longest Amarnath Yatra ever: SASB
On-the-spot registration starts in Jammu
Srinagar: Over three lakh pilgrims have till now registered for the 62-day Amarnath Yatra — the longest ever, the shrine board said here on Wednesday.
The number of registrations so far is 10 per cent more than last year, CEO of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) Mandeep Kumar Bhandari said.
The shrine board and the union territory administration are ready to welcome the yatris, he said.
The annual pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre-high holy cave shrine of Amarnath in the south Kashmir Himalayas is scheduled to start on July 1.
The first batch of pilgrims are leaving for the Valley from Jammu’s Bhagwati Nagar base camp on June 30.
“The Yatra will commence on July 1 and will last till August 31. This year’s pilgrimage will be of 62 days and will be the longest ever so far,” Bhandari said.
So far, over three lakh pilgrims have registered with the board via different modes of registration, he said.
The CEO said yatris up to the age of 70 years can perform the pilgrimage, which can be undertaken from the two routes of Baltal — which involves 14.5 km trekking — and Chandanwari — 32 km of a trek up to the holy cave shrine at the height of 13,000 feet. This year, the Yatra tracks on both routes have been made better. The tracks have been widened and hand railings have been installed, Bhandari informed. “Both the yatra tracks have been illuminated to facilitate the movement of the pilgrims smoothly,” he added.
The CEO said at vulnerable points, helmets have been made available for the pilgrims so that they can protect themselves from shooting stones and landslides during heavy rains.
Mountain rescue teams have been deployed en route to the cave shrine for quick evacuation, he added.
Taking note of the flash floods that killed 15 people last year, Bhandari said no pilgrim will be allowed to stay near the cave shrine during the night.
Public addressing systems as well as video walls have been placed in all the camps to inform the passengers about important information.
A major effort has been made to make telecom available on the entire track, in which OFC cables have been laid on both the tracks by the service providers so that internet facility and telecom facility are available at all times, he said.
The shrine board, Rural Development Department, various municipal corporations, and development authorities have taken a joint initiative to set up around 5,100 separate toilets this year for the Yatra, Bhandari said. Meanwhile, the city administration on Thursday began the process for on-the-spot registration of devotees arriving here for the pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas.
Over 1,500 pilgrims, including sadhus, have arrived in Jammu city for the yatra to the 3,880-metre shrine starting on July 2.
While an on-the-spot registration centre has been set up for unregistered pilgrims in Shalimar area of the city, a special camp for registration of sadhus has been set up at Purani Mandi-based Ram temple complex.
Amid tight security arrangements, over 1000 pilgrims have arrived at the Bhagwati-Nagar base camp here for their onward journey to Kashmir, officials said.
The 62-day-long pilgrimage will commence on July 1 from the twin tracks the traditional 48-km Nunwan-Pahalgam route in Anantnag district and the 14-km shorter but steep Baltal route in Ganderbal district.
The registration of unregistered pilgrims arriving here from all parts of the country has begun on-the-spot at the counter here, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Nargesh Singh told PTI.
He said all facilities for smooth registration have been put in place.
“The registration of sadhus has begun in Jammu from today. All arrangements have been put in place for best possible facilities to the sadhus
“, Tehsildar Jai Singh said.
The enthusiasm among pilgrims arriving here for the pilgrimage was palpable
Sanjeev Kumar of Uttar Pradesh said it is the fourth time that he is visiting the cave shrine.
“The registration process has improved from manual to online. This has done away with the process of sitting in long queues in hot weather conditions”, he said.
Another pilgrim, 69-year-old Jagdesh Raj from Delhi said, “For my entire life, I have been facilitating people planning to go on the pilgrimage, but could not go myself. However, I am very happy that I am now going to pay obeisance at Amarnath”.
The sadhus have arrived here after completing the Char Dham Yatra to Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath shrines in Uttarakhand.
“We are here for the registration, which began today….It is for the sixth time, I am going to Amarnath”, another pilgrim Ramesh Chander Giri said.
The Lt Governor directed the officials to increase the manpower for health, sanitation and other essential services. He welcomed pilgrims from across the country who have arrived at Yatri Niwas for Shri Amarnath Ji pilgrimage. During the interaction, the Lt Governor also enquired about the facilities.
Ramesh Kumar, Divisional Commissioner Jammu informed the Lt Governor that the holding capacity of pilgrims at Samba and Kathua has been increased from the last year and additional buses have been stationed at the key locations of pilgrimage. The 62-day long Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra will commence on 1st July and it will culminate on 31st August 2023. The Yatra will be flagged off on June 30 from Yatri Niwas, Bhagwati Nagar.
Mukesh Singh, ADGP Jammu; Avny Lavasa, Deputy Commissioner Jammu; Rahul Yadav, Commissioner, JMC and senior officials from civil administration, police and security forces accompanied the Lt Governor.