KL Report

SRINAGAR

As per a statement Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) has again appealed to all Yatris to ensure that they complete the necessary registration formalities and obtain a valid Yatra Permit before they embark on the pilgrimage, to avoid inconvenience on arrival in the state.

The Board has said that no Yatri who does not possess a valid Yatra Permit shall be allowed to cross beyond Nunwan and Baltal Base Camps under any circumstances.

Navin K Choudhary, Chief Executive Officer, SASB, has reiterated that the importance of strictly enforcing the Board’s decision against any unregistered pilgrim being allowed to undertake the Yatra and stated that this is all the more important keeping the recent Uttarakhand tragedy in view.

It is pertinent to recall that for this year’s Yatra the Shrine Board has fixed a ceiling of 7500 Yatris per day per route and, besides, the 1000 plus pilgrims who travel by the Helicopter services upto Panjtarni.

Choudhary has stressed the directions of the Chairman, NN Vohra, that this number must not be exceeded under any circumstances and urged the intending pilgrims to take note of it. He has also stressed that “the pilgrims must embark on the Yatra strictly as per the dates and the routes specified in their Yatra Permits, clarifying that the Yatra Permits for this year’s pilgrimage are of different colour, for each day of the week and route, to facilitate Police personnel deployed at the Access Control Gates at Domel and Chandanwari in determining whether a Yatri possesses Yatra Permit valid for the relevant date and route.” In this context, he has cautioned the intending Yatris against undertaking this arduous Yatra without first securing a valid Yatra Permit. He said that for ensuring effective security arrangements along the difficult tracks, only those Yatris who are in possession of a Yatra Permit, which is valid for a specified date and route, will be allowed to proceed beyond the Base Camps, and cross the Access Control Gates at Domel and Chandanwari.

The CEO has said that to ensure that every intending pilgrim could timely go through the Registration process, this year the Shrine Board had opened 422 Registration Counters across the country, against 174 last year. Further, this year Registration was commenced three months in advance of the Yatra i.e. on March 18, 2013. However, in view of the significant number of unregistered pilgrims who have arrived ahead of their scheduled date of Yatra this year, the Divisional Administration Kashmir, in coordination with the Shrine Board, J&K Bank, and Directorate of Tourism, Kashmir, have established seven counters each at Pantha Chowk, Srinagar, and Tourist Reception Centre (TRC), Nowgam, Srinagar, to facilitate such unregistered Yatris to obtain registration before they can proceed to the Yatra Base Camps. He said that this facility is in addition to the Current Registration arrangement which has been made available to pilgrims at several locations in Jammu i.e. Vaishnavi Dham, Saraswati Dham, Jammu Haat and Ram Mandir. 

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