Amarnath Yatra 2011

First batch for Amarnath Yatra leaves today

Amarnath Yatra- 2011 is commencing tomorrow as the first batch of around 4000 pilgrims including Sadhus will leave from the base camp Yatri Niwas at Bhagwati Nagar at 5.30 AM.“Over 4,000 yatris have arrived from various parts of the country in Jammu today. More pilgrims are arriving,” Deputy Inspector General of Police Farooq Khan said.

The first batch of pilgrim will leave from the Bhagwati Nagar-based Yatri Niwas tomorrow, base camp of Amarnath yatra in Jammu for their onward journey to the shrine located at a height of 13500 ft. The yatra will be flagged off by the Minister for Tourism Nawang Rigzin Zora. Earlier “Pratham Pujan” was performed at Panjtarni by CEO SASB joined Niyas office bearers in June 15.

Khan, who welcomed the pilgrims at the newly set up reception-cum-assistance centre at Kunjwani on the outskirts of Jammu city, said that adequate security measures were made for the yatra period.“We have asked pilgrims and their families to pray for peace to prevail in Jammu and Kashmir when they pay obeisance at the cave shrine,” the DIG said.

Notably for Yatra, elaborate security arrangements have been made besides the deployment of thousands of paramilitary forces and police personnel along the entire Yatra route and its peripheries. Reception and Information Centres have been established enroute for educating the Yatris and providing them first hand information about the routes and lodging available at various places. Besides, Joint Yatra Control Rooms too have been established in each district to deal with the issues relating to Yatra. The main reception centre has been established at Lakhanpur, Kunjwani and Railway station.

Yatri Niwas was opened today for registration of pilgrims for lodging. With a multi tier security, the Niwas, spread in an area of several hectares of land, has started community kitchens, assistance booths, joint control room, registration centre as well as boarding and lodging areas.

In the meanwhile, Jammu and Katra Hoteliers have offered special discount of 30 percent on room tariff on all the advance bookings during the Amarnath Yatra. The representatives of the Hotelier Associations  offered the discount at a meeting with the director tourism Jammu convened to discuss comfortable stay of pilgrims during the annual Himalayan cave  yatra  in Kashmir.

In connection with Yatra, Minister for Health and Family Welfare Sham Lal Sharma also visited yatra base camp at Bhagwati Nagar here today and took stock of arrangements put in place for facilitation of Yatris.The minister directed the senior officers of the police and civil administration to ensure close coordination for smooth conduct of Yatra. He laid special emphasis on sanitation arrangements, round the clock supply of drinking water and electricity during the entire yatra period. He directed health authorities to ensure adequate stock of medicines and other medicare facilities for the pilgrims.

The minister directed the Deputy Commissioner, Jammu to personally monitor Yatra on a regular basis and ensure that pilgrims do not face any kind of inconvenience. He also suggested roping in civil defence, Red Cross and other voluntary organizations to facilitate the pilgrimage Divisional Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, Chief Engineer PHE, Director Tourism, Director Health Services, Chief Medical Officer, Health Officer, JMC, senior officers of police and allied civil departments of Jammu district were present on the occasion.

Notably on June 21, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram had visited Pahalgam and reviewed the law and order situation and the arrangements for the Amarnath yatra. Senior officers of the police and the civil administration had apprised the Union Home Minister about the security situation in the area, particularly in view of the arrangements made for the yatra.

A follow-up review meeting had taken place in Jammu on June 24 to take stock of security arrangements for yatra right from Lakhanpur to Banihal, places of stay and sites of langers.  The meeting was attended by IG Jammu zone, IG CRPF, DIG Jammu and Kathua range, DIG Udhampur-Reasi range, DIG CRPF, DIG CID, DIG IRP, DC Jammu, CMO Jammu, senior police officers, besides officers from paramilitary, army and intelligence agencies.

In the meeting, the deployment worked out by district SSPs, security wing and traffic in Kathua, Samba, Jammu, Udhampur and Ramban too was discussed and reviewed. The assessment of intelligence agencies too had been taken into account.