Jammu: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday reviewed the delivery of essential services and supplies, and expressed satisfaction with steps taken by the administration for a comfortable annual Amarnath Yatra beginning July 3.
The 38-day-long Yatra is scheduled to start from the twin routes — the traditional 48-kilometre Pahalgam route in Anantnag district and the 14-kilometre shorter but steeper Baltal route in Ganderbal district — to the 3,880-metre-high holy cave shrine of Amarnath. The first batch of pilgrims will leave for Kashmir from Bhagwati Nagar a day before the start of the Yatra.
“I reviewed the situation concerning hot weather conditions in Jammu. All officers, including the divisional commissioner, were present. I asked about the arrangements for Muharram and the Amarnath Yatra. I am satisfied with the steps taken in this direction,” Abdullah told reporters in Samba.
He further said, “Now we are waiting for pilgrims so that their Yatra is comfortable.”
Officials apprised the chief minister of the ongoing preparations for the Amarnath Yatra, with detailed arrangements from Lakhanpur — the gateway to J&K — to Lambar at Banihal in Ramban.
He was informed about the RFID, registration centres, lodgement centres, langar facilities and other key preparations made by the administration for the smooth conduct of the Amarnath Yatra.
The chief minister asked the concerned officials to provide wide publicity to the cut-off timings for travel on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, which will be the same for pilgrims and tourists during the Amarnath Yatra period.
Abdullah chaired a high-level meeting in Jammu to review the delivery of essential services and supplies, and the steps taken by the administration during the current summer season in the Jammu division.
During the meeting, Jammu Divisional Commissioner Ramesh Kumar briefed the chief minister and gave a presentation on the functioning of different line departments and their action plan for summer preparedness, an official spokesperson said.
It was informed that the Jammu Power Development Corporation Limited has maintained a sufficient buffer stock of transformers and has also devised time-slots for power curtailment to prevent overload on grid stations.
He emphasised adherence to the curtailment schedule of the Power Development Department (PDD), with minimum power outages and prevention of overheating of power lines and transformers.
The functioning of the Jal Shakti Department and Jammu Municipal Corporation was also discussed with regard to the adequate supply of water tankers, water sprinklers, anti-smog guns and proper maintenance of water coolers to provide relief to citizens.
Taking cognisance of the water scarcity issues in some newly populated areas, the chief minister directed the commissioner of Jammu Municipal Corporation and the Jal Shakti Department to provide immediate relief to residents through water tanker services.
He further directed the expediting of work on water supply schemes nearing completion to alleviate water supply issues in areas facing shortages.
Abdullah also reviewed the forest fire response mechanism of the Forest Department and the readiness of Fire and Emergency Services to tackle any such situation.
He was apprised of the preparedness of the Irrigation and Flood Control Department regarding the desilting of irrigation canals, the flood mitigation plan and the setting up of 24×7 control rooms for the upcoming monsoon season.
