Srinagar: Top officials on Wednesday reviewed the security and other arrangements for the annual Amarnath Yatra beginning later this week.
Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Home, R K Goyal, visited Pahalgam and took stock of arrangements being put in place at Nunwan base camp and Chandanwari camp for pilgrims arriving for the annual Amarnath Yatra, commencing from July 1, an official press release informed.
It said the ACS was accompanied by Director General Police, Dilbag Singh and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), Dr Mandeep Bandari, DIG South, DC Anantnag, SDM Pahalgam and other civil and police officers.
At Chandanwari camp, ACS reviewed the healthcare facilities established in DRDO hospital for providing quality healthcare services to pilgrims.
He directed the concerned officers to work in “mission mode” for ensuring best possible facilities to pilgrims.
He asked the concerned officers to ensure deployment of adequate numbers of doctors and other paramedical staff in the hospital to cater to the needs of holy devotees.
“The makeshift state-of-the-art hospital, built by DRDO at Chandanwari, will help in providing better and round-the-clock healthcare facilities to the pilgrims of Amarnath Yatra and to those engaged in Yatra management,” he maintained.
ACS directed the medical officers to keep the medical facilities available round the clock so that no devotee has to face any inconvenience on this account.
He also visited Nunwan base camp at Pahalgam and took stock of preparations and arrangements. He conducted a detailed tour of the base camp and inspected the facilities including drinking water, healthcare, toilets, sanitation, entry points and langar management, established at the camp.
Later, Goyal held meetings with the camp directors and other officers regarding conduct of this religious Yatra.
He directed them to ensure that best services are extended to pilgrims expected to throng the UT for pilgrimage. He asked for giving focus on maintaining proper sanitation and quality basic amenities at all the spots established for the pilgrims.
The camp directors and other officers of line departments apprised the ACS of facilities available in the camps for the pilgrims.
Meanwhile, senior officers of Jammu and Kashmir Police, CRPF, BSF, Indian Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) also reviewed the security arrangements at the holy cave as well as along the traditional route to the shrine.
“ADGP Kashmir Shri Vijay Kumar alongwith IG CRPF, IG BSF, 3 Sector Commander, SSP Anantnag & CO ITBP visited Panjtarni & #HolyCave,” Kashmir Zone Police said on Twitter.
Senior officers reviewed the security arrangements and interacted with other stakeholders, police said. All officers also jointly inspected the track between Panjtarni and the holy cave, they said.
The administration also conducted a trial run from Jammu to Banihal along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway during the day to inspect the security and other arrangements for the pilgrimage.
Leading a convoy of security vehicles, ADGP Jammu Mukesh Singh, accompanied by senior officers, conducted the trial run along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway.
Senior civil and police officers in charge of the Jammu division examined all arrangements made by Jammu, Udhampur, and Ramban district administrations for the pilgrimage.
“The trial run was conducted by the security establishment from Jammu to Banihal on the highway for a thorough inspection of security and other arrangements”, an officer said.
To ensure the utmost convenience of the pilgrims, the administration has planned that transit camps would accommodate the devotees in the event of inclement weather necessitating the closure of the highway, officials said, adding steps have been taken to ensure landslide debris are cleared promptly expediting the reopening of the highway.
The 62-day-long pilgrimage to the cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas will commence on July 1 and conclude on August 31. Pilgrims will embark on the yatra via two routes — the traditional 48-kilometre Nunwan route, in south Kashmir’s Pahalgam, and the shorter 14-kilometre Baltal route in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal.
The first batch of pilgrims will depart from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu on June 30. They will travel on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway before reaching their designated base camps in Pahalgam and Baltal.
