Construction on SASB Yatri Niwas, DMC commences at Jammu
STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Housing and Urban Affairs and Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha performed Puja for the commencement of Construction work for Yatri Niwas and Disaster Management Center (DMC), on Monday.
The facility is being developed at Majeen Jammu under the CSR initiative of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) at a cost of Rs 51 crores.
Sinha inaugurates SMVDSB’s Prasad cum Souvenir Counter at Jammu Airport
JAMMU: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Tuesday inaugurated Prasad cum Souvenir Counter of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board in the departure area of Jammu Airport.
The facility will fulfil the long pending demand of the devotees of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi ji from across the country to make packaged Prasad and other Souvenir available at the Jammu Airport, said the Lt Governor.
At the inaugural ceremony, the Lt Governor shared initiatives taken by the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board for providing better facilities to the pilgrims.
The Shrine Board has also taken several digital initiatives to facilitate the devotees from across the country and abroad, he added.
The Lt Governor also distributed the Prasad packages to the people at the airport.
Premium Panchmewa Prasad, Gold Medallions, Silver Coins and other souvenirs will also be available at the Prasad counter. Pertinently, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board has taken several measures for enhancing the efficiency of the operation of door-to-door delivery of Prasad boxes, Panchmewa Prasad and minimising the delivery time with real time tracking of Prasad.
Five dedicated Prasad Kendras cum Souvenir Shops have been made operational in the last 10 months besides operationalization of 07 counters in existing establishments. A Modern Prasad Kendra cum Souvenir Shop was inaugurated at Bhawan by Lt Governor in the month of February this year. Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary; Dr Mandeep Kumar Bhandari, Principal Secretary to Lt Governor; Anshul Garg, CEO Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board; members of the Shrine Board and other senior officials were present.
Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister said the Yatri Niwas will help in providing accommodation for 30,000 Shri Amarnathji pilgrims every year and will be particularly helpful for yatris from weaker sections. It will help in traffic management and ensure a seamless experience, he added.
The Lt Governor Manoj Sinha congratulated the devotees of Shri Amarnath; officials of the Shrine Board, all stakeholders and organizations associated with Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra and the people of Jammu region for the commencement of the construction work of the Yatri Niwas.
“I am immensely grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji and Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri for Shri Amarnath Ji Shrine Board’s Yatri Niwas at Jammu. This new facility will ease the lives of devotees embarking on annual pilgrimage of Baba Amarnath,” said the Lt Governor.
The Lt Governor expressed gratitude to the Union Petroleum Minister for approving 4-5 more Yatri Niwas under CSR initiatives for Baba Shri Amarnath Ji’s devotees. This Seva of pilgrims on the holy pilgrimage is really appreciable, he said.
He also expressed gratitude to Arun Kumar Singh, Chairman ONGC and lauded the Board of Directors of ONGC for their outstanding support in realizing the dream of Yatri Niwas and Disaster Management Center at Jammu.
The Lt Governor impressed upon the executing agencies and all the workers engaged in the construction work to develop the Yatri Niwas as a centre of spirituality which will provide divine experience to the devotees.
“Baba Amarnath’s holy pilgrimage is the highest peak of spiritual experience. The construction work of Yatri Niwas should be carried out with complete devotion and a grateful heart,” the Lt Governor said.
Under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we are working with greater commitment and devotion to scale up the facilities including lodging, transportation, medical, and better connectivity for the safe and hassle-free pilgrimage of the devotees, said the Lt Governor.
DPR for Chandanwari-Panjtarni- Sangam Top-Baltal road being prepared by NHIDCL is at advanced stage. On completion, this road will provide smooth passage to the pilgrims, he observed.
Last year, the maximum number of 3.65 lakh pilgrims visited the Holy Shrine of Shri Amarnathji, since 2015. As many as 120 additional bank branches were added last year to facilitate the registration of the pilgrims and this year the registration facility is being provided through 542 branches across the country, he added.
In 2021, the initiatives of online Darshan, Hawan and Prasad were taken to facilitate the devotees. Moreover, Yatri Niwas at Chandrakot which was inaugurated in June last year accommodated around 50,000 devotees, he further said.
The Lt Governor said the work for upgradation of Yatra track has been done on a war footing and the work was resumed after snow clearance in March this year.
We are making dedicated efforts to strengthen communication connectivity. Telecommunication towers, Cell on Wheels are being installed by the telecom service providers, besides Army is laying an Optical fiber cable from Sonamarg to Holy Cave, he added.
Designed by School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, the Yatri Niwas is set for completion within 18-month time period.
Bharat Bhushan, Chairperson DDC Jammu; Jugal Kishore Sharma, Member of Parliament; Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary; Arun Kumar Singh, Chairman, ONGC; Dr Mandeep Kumar Bhandari, CEO, Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board; Padma Shri Prof. Vishwa Murti Shastri; members of SASB; senior officials of Police and Civil Administration and a large number of people were present.
Baba Amarnath & Buda Amarnath Yatri Niyas President Pawan Kumar Kohli said that today’s stone laying ceremony for construction of Yatri Niwas is the outcome of our demand to provide enhanced facilities to the yatris coming to perform various Yatras in J&K UT.
One more is under construction at Pantha Chowk, Srinagar with three thousand capacity and the coming Bhawan at Majeen Jammu will give big relief to the Yatris at the time of heavy rush at Jammu and particularly during their return journey when they are not allowed to stay at Bhagwati Nagar, Jammu, he said.