SRINAGAR: The Divisional Commissioner (Div Com) Kashmir, Vijay Kumar Bidhuri on Wednesday convened a meeting of Officers to make comprehensive arrangements for annual Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra (SANJY) 2024 to facilitate yatries.

The meeting was attended by DCs and SSPs of Srinagar, Ganderbal, Anantnag and Bandipora besides Directors of Tourism, Health and FCS&CA, SSP Traffic Srinagar, SSP Traffic Rural and Officers of different departments including R&B, PHE, PDD, Sonmarg Development Authority, Pahalgam Development Authority, Information, RDD and ULB.

The meeting deliberated over widening of tracks, snow clearance, underground cabling, power supply to all camps and enroute, establishment of pony sheds, disaster mitigation, pitching of tents and langars.

Besides, the meeting discussed fire safety measures, access control gates, establishment of transit camps, yatra registration, sanitation, disposal of solid waste, mobile toilets, drinking water facilities, registration of service providers, medical facility, supply of firewood, live telecast of Arti Darshan, communication services, supply of fuel, ration and issuance of RFID cards.

Addressing the meeting, Div Com directed the concerned to initiate the process of registration of service providers besides directing all departments for augmentation of their services for SANJY.

Further, he also directed concerned for making adequate arrangements for accommodation, health facility, firewood, ration and kerosene.

He laid stress on the installation of signages on both axis of SANJY and at camps to provide information to the pilgrims regarding nearby facilities, control room contact numbers etc

To ensure cleanliness and sanitation, he exhorted concerned officers to carry continuous sanitation drives and install dustbins for proper disposal of solid waste.

He issued directions to concerned officers to ensure availability of water and electricity, besides he also asked IMD to share accurate information regarding weather activity on a real time basis.

Moreover, Div Com directed BSNL and other communication service providers to augment networking to cover all the shadow areas.

He cautioned officers that activities entrusted to their departments are non-negotiable and shall be executed smoothly.(GNS)

SRINAGAR: Amid the chants of 'Bam Bam Bhole', a fresh batch of 7805 pilgrims left on Wednesday for Shri Amarnath Cave Shrine here from Bhagwati Nagar Base Camp.

After remaining suspended for three days, the yatra resumed from Jammu on Tuesday.

The yatra was suspended due to repair work on roads damaged by rains at Ramban on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway.

An official said that a batch of 7805 pilgrims left the base camp in a convoy of 339 vehicles.

As many as 4,677 pilgrims left for Pahalgam in a convoy of 207 vehicles, and 3,128 pilgrims left for the Baltal in a convoy of 132 vehicles. (UNI)

SRINAGAR: Additional Director General of Police Kashmir Vijay Kumar along with IG CRPF, BSF and other officers visited Amarnath Cave to reviewed security arrangements.

In a tweet, The Kashmir Zone Police wrote, "ADGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar alongwith IG CRPF, IG BSF, 3 Sector Commander, SSP Anantnag & CO ITBP visited Panjtarni & HolyCave. Reviewed security arrangements & interacted with other stakeholders. All officers also inspected track jointly between panjtarni and Holy Cave, reads the tweet.

Amarnath Yatra is set to commence on July 1st, 2023, a trek through the mountains of south Kashmir Himalayas to the Holy Cave Shrine of Shri Amarnath. (GNS)

SRINAGAR: The Additional Director General of Police Kashmir Zone Vijay Kumar on Monday visited South Kashmir's Anantnag district to evaluate the security measures put in place for smooth conduct of SANJY-2023. Given the importance of SANJY and the security challenges it poses, the ADGP Kashmir's visit aimed to assess the preparations and provide necessary guidance to the officers.

The meeting was attended by GoC Victor Force, IG CRPF, IG BSF, Sector commander sector 1 & 3, DIG SKR Anantnag, DIG CRPF Awantipora, DIG CRPF Anantnag DIG ITBP, SSP Anantnag, SSP Kulgam, SSP Awantipora , CO NDRF & other senior officers. Report submitted by the joint team of yatra track was also discussed. ADGP directed all SSsP and COs of CAPFs to conduct mock drills and joint briefing on the spot.

Recognizing the vital role of public safety, Shri Vijay Kumar emphasized the need to prioritize the well-being of pilgrims as well as the general public throughout the Yatra. He directed the officers to ensure that all necessary measures should be taken to guarantee a secure and hassle-free experience for the pilgrims. During the meeting, the ADGP Kashmir directed the officers to maintain close coordination & display better synergy among them and ensure the safety of the general public.

Security of the routes adopted for the pilgrims was discussed in detail & it was entrusted upon the officers to strengthen the security grid along the National Highway mainly at the vulnerable points to prevent any eventuality. Moreover, he directed the officers to increase the surveillance & gather intelligence inputs about any possible terror threats. He also directed the officers to intensify the motor vehicle checkpoints (MVCP) and night dominations along the NHW. Several SOPs were reviewed. It was decided to deploy Anti Drone equipment of the Army at sensitive yatra camps and locations. 

The ADGP Kashmir advised the participating officers to use modern technology drone monitoring systems to keep close vigil of their area of jurisdiction. Furthermore, the officers were directed to gather actionable intelligence information about the terrorists & their associates. He also directed the officers to keep strict vigil on rumour mongers who are hell bent towards spreading forged & concocted news to create panic among the masses on social media platforms & take action under law against such elements. He also stressed upon the officers to manage the alternative routes at congested junctions for the hassle-free movement of commuters for the convenience of the general public.  

Earlier at the onset of the meeting, ADGP Kashmir was briefed by the officers about the security arrangements put in place for the safe & smooth conduct of Yatra. He lauded the efforts made jointly by the Police & security forces and expressed confidence in their ability to handle any security challenges effectively. The functioning of already established joint control rooms for the convenience of pilgrims was also discussed. He directed all officers to ensure no inconvenience to the general public during Yatra. (GNS)

SRINAGAR: Lieutenant Governor Shri Manoj Sinha chaired a high level meeting today to take stock of the preparedness of departments and concerned agencies for Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra.

The meeting was attended by Sh Shaleen Kabra, Principal Secretary, Jal Shakti Department; Dr Mandeep Kumar Bhandari, CEO, Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board; Lt General Rajiv Ghai, GOC 15 Corps; Sh Vijay Kumar Bidhuri, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, senior officials of SASB, BRO and representatives of telecommunication service providers.

The Lt Governor took appraisal of the upgradation work of Yatra tracks by BRO; installation of safety railings on all vulnerable stretches; snow clearance; installation of Army Tents and strengthening of Telecommunication connectivity.

The Lt Governor directed the telecom service providers to enhance the network connectivity and increase the bandwidth along the yatra route.

The Lt Governor also took stock of the works taken up by the Irrigation and Flood Control department.

The Lt Governor directed for higher resource mobilization and increasing the manpower to ensure the completion of all related works well before the commencement of the yatra.

Dr Raghav Langer, Secretary Planning, Development and Monitoring Department; Sh Syeed Fakhrudin Hamid, Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag; Sh Shyambir, Deputy Commissioner Ganderbal and senior officials of other concerned departments also attended the meeting. (GNS)

SRINAGAR: Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi, Northern Army Commander, reviewed the ongoing preparations for annual Amarnath Yatra, commencing from July 1 for a duration of two months.

 
"The Army Commander inspected the arrangements on both the routes, where he was briefed on the multi-tiered security arrangements to include night domination through night vision devices, snipers, drone systems, bomb disposal squads, dog squads, counter IED equipments, vehicle repair and recovery teams to ensure smooth movement of convoys, and synergy with civil agencies being under taken to make the Yatra incident free", said a defence spokesperson in a statement issued to GNS. 

"The army officer was also shown the arrangements made by BRO,  Indian Air Force and Teams from High Altitude Warfare School."
 
"The road stretch to Holy Cave Shrine is almost clear for induction of pilgrims. In coordination with Civil Administration, NGOs and other agencies, Army is establishing multiple medical detachments with special arrangements of Oxygen cylinders and control rooms at various points along both the routes for humanitarian aid that will be operational round the clock. Various civil aviation agencies have been incorporated for providing air travel facilities to the devotees", reads the statement. 

Army, the statement reads, has established Helipads at multiple locations for medical emergencies and to cater for other air lift requirements. Army has also established a number of Yatri camps with adequate tentage facility along with special winter clothing arrangement to provide habitat and comfort during the Holy Yatra.
 
"Based on the experiences of the Cloud Burst during the Amarnath Yatra 2022, civil rescue teams and avalanche rescue teams will also be deployed enroute systematically to mitigate any kind of disaster. Earth movers will also be placed at the Holy Cave and multiple locations enroute for emergencies. Seamless communication network on both the routes has also been operationalised. SFF detachments will also be overlooking the security of the people."
 
"An 'All Inclusive Approach' have been followed to synergize the efforts with all civil agencies including joint training, joint operation, joint exercises and mock drills are being conducted to ensure seamless and successful conduct of the Yatra this year", reads the statement. 
 
"Northern Army commander appreciated the good work of all agencies and the synergy between them. He complimented them for their proactive action and exhorted them to meet future challenges", reads the statement further. (GNS)

SRINAGAR: Ahead of the forthcoming Amarnath Yatra, additional 85 CRPF companies are being inducted into Jammu and Kashmir for ensuring safety to the pilgrims, official sources said on Saturday. 

The 62-day long annual pilgrimage is commencing from July 1 and the 85 companies including six woman coys are mostly being inducted in the Valley, they said. 

A paramilitary CRPF official told GNS that 75 of the coys, each comprising about 135 personnel, are being deployed in south Kashmir, central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district and in Bandipora district of north Kashmir. Ten companies are being deployed in Jammu, the official said. 

Other than sanitising the areas lying in south Kashmir and Baltal route in central Kashmir, the official said, the paramilitary personnel will be deployed for Road Opening Parties (ROPs) on the highway in the Valley.

The official said that additional companies are being inducted exclusively for the yatra duty. As per officials, around nine lakh pilgrims are expected to perform the annual yatra this year and as such “more troops would be required for their safety”.  Asked if more companies will be rushed, the officials said, “There is no such information as of now.” (GNS)

SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Government on Thursday appointed Nodal officers for smooth functioning of Amarnaath Yatra 2023.

"It is hereby ordered that the two officers shall be the Nodal Officers for smooth conduct of Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra-2023 for the locations/axis indicated against each, in addition to their own duties." Reads the order, a copy of which lies with the news agency, Kashmir Scroll.

As per order ,Raghav Langer, IAS, Secretary to the Government, Planning, Development and Monitoring Department has been appointed as Nodal for Baltal axis while Dr. Piyush Singla, IAS, Administrative Secretary, Revenue Department has been appointed nodal officer for Pahalgam Axis.

"The officers shall closely monitor and liaison with all concerned agencies involved in the conduct of Shri Amarnath ji Yatra- 2023, and shall report to Chief Executive Officer, Shri Amarnath ji Shrine Board.

SRINAGAR: The Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, today held a high level meeting of civil administration and police to take stock of arrangements for the upcoming Shri AmarnathJi Yatra, 2023 in light of Supreme Court directions to ensure smooth conduct of yatra.

Dr Mehta observed that the yatra is filled with religious fervour and should be developed as benchmark in religious tourism. The yatra has significant impact on both our economy and composite culture. He said that all arrangements made should make the Yatra a memorable experience.  He also said that  the pilgrims should  fully enjoy this spiritual journey in the lap of nature without any haste to cover more distance.

The Chief Secretary took first hand appraisal from all the concerned Departments and Deputy Commissioners about the civil works related to the smooth conduct of the yatra. He enquired from them the kind of arrangements and back up plans for providing reliable accommodation, water, electricity facilities made by each of them in their districts.

He directed the Divisional and District Administration to ensure that no Langar, tenement or any other service is established in disaster prone areas. He urged the concerned DCs to certify the same before commencement of yatra. He also asked for deployment of NDRF, SDRF and mountain rescue team personnel in adequate numbers at all the vulnerable spots enroute Holy Cave.

 Dr Mehta also laid stress on ensuring that appropriate number of washrooms, dustbins, sanitation workers should be in place at each location. He stressed on making all the base camps and other sites comfortable, clean and hygienic using modern techniques especially around Langar areas. He asked for deploying adequate manpower for maintenance of public utilities and providing of all the paraphernalia required in these utilities.

Moreover the Chief Secretary made out that all the Departments should prominently display their achievements right from entering the UT at Lakhanpur till reaching holy cave. He laid stress on improving the aura and face lifting of the entry points at Lakhanpur, Railway Stations and Airports of J&K.

Dr Mehta asked the Deputy Commissioners of Anantnag and Ganderbal to examine both the routes up to holy cave themselves and see that all critical, protective works have been carried out satisfactorily. He asked them to ensure proper cleanliness and illumination of all the routes and areas so that the ambience  is festive in the whole of the UT.

He further said that the SHGs registered under JKRLM, Mission Youth and other agencies should be provided an opportunity to showcase their products enroute yatra. He also called for providing ample opportunities to the locals to do their business as per the regulations made for each trade.

He took note of all the preparations made till date by departments like Health, Jal Shakti, PDD, PWD, RDD, H&UDD, BRO, Shrine Board, and the divisional and district administration. He directed them that there should be high end arrangements from each quarter with inter-departmental coordination so that the arrangements made are both efficient and established on time.

On the occasion, the Principal Secretary to Lieutenant Governor, Mandeep Kumar Bhandari, who is also CEO of the Shrine Board gave detailed presentation of the arrangements made for smooth conduct of this year’s yatra.

It was given out that nearly 4000 sanitation workers and 12000 service providers are going to be roped in this year for providing different services to the pilgrims. Further it was revealed that RFID passes after aadhar based eKYC of each registered yatri would be granted for better management and avoiding of overcrowding and rush during yatra this year.

It was made out that all the facilities are being upgraded from last year with provision for better health, connectivity, telecom, water, electricity facilities along with a disaster mitigation plan.

The meeting was informed that accommodation facilities for some 70000 pilgrims at base camps and around 53000 at other lodgements is going to be provided to the devotees. Regarding the telecom services it was said that 25 towers would be installed by BSNL, 7 by Airtel and 29 by Reliance Jio besides high speed internet through lease line to yatra camps. The yatra would be monitored on real time basis in the Integrated Command & Control Centre located centrally.

 It was also made out that 29 health facilities are going to be established enroute to be manned by around 1800 medics/paramedics to be provided by GoI (188), other States/UTs (695) and the J&K Government (907) itself. This year the 100 bedded hospitals at Baltal and Chandanwadi are going to greatly enhance the health facilities for yatris with additional feature of telemedicine and super speciality services through e-Sanjeevani  portal, the meeting was apprised.

It was made out that weather forecasting infrastructure is upgraded with use of RADARs and Automatic weather stations (AWS). The damaged bridges on both the axis are being re-launched besides widening/upgradation of narrow and vulnerable stretches as per the Supreme Court directions, as was learnt during this meeting.(GNS)

SRINAGAR: Border Roads Organisation (BRO) on Saturday said the track restoration work on Amarnath Yatra route will be completed ahead of the commencement of this year's pilgrimage.

In a statement a spokesperson of BRO said that “it will complete the restoration works on Amarnath Yatra track by June 15 ahead of the 62-day-long scheduled pilgrimage commencing from July 1.

Lt Gen Rajeev Chaudhry, DGBR visited Baltal and Chandanwari on Saturday and inspected the progress of work on both Yatra tracks.

He was briefed in detail by Chief Executive Beacon on the status of various tasks being undertaken by BRO and the envisaged completion plan before the commencement of the Yatra 2023.

Speaking on the occasion, DGBR commended the Karamyogis of Project Beacon for the restoration work being executed on the tracks.

He assured everyone that despite the loss of precious time due to inclement weather during April-May, the tracks will be made available to the Civil Administration by June 15 as desired.

He also informed that the restoration works for further improvement of the tracks will continue even after the completion of Yatra this year to facilitate better quality tracks for subsequent years. The authorities had handed over the Amarnath Yatra tracks to BRO in September 2022 for maintenance and upgradation.

Earlier, the yatra track from Baltal to Holy Cave was maintained by PWD (R&B) and the one from Chandanwari to Holy Cave was maintained by Pahalgam Development Authority.

Restoration works on the tracks could, however, commence only in March 2023 after the necessary funds were released to BRO by the government.

The basic scope of work involved snow clearance, widening of the track, restoration of all foot bridges, fixing of hand rails, protection works at slide prone stretches and construction of breast walls and retaining walls for protection of the track, the statement added.

The snow clearance, using plant machinery, commenced on both the tracks from base camp Baltal and Chandanwari in the last week of March.

“Concurrent to the progress of snow clearance of the tracks, additional plant equipment and manpower were employed for other restoration works. As on date, eight dozers/ excavators and almost 1100 laborers are working on the tracks. Though, unprecedented snow and rain in the
higher reaches in Kashmir during April & May has slowed the progress of work, BRO is committed
to completing the task in time”, the statement reads. (UNI) 

SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday iterated the Government's commitment to ensuring the best possible arrangements during the Amarnath Yatra.

The Lt Governor said, the J&K Government is committed to ensure that the best possible arrangements are put in place for the comfort and well-being of pilgrims during this year’s Amarnath Yatra.

The 62-day-long Shri Amarnathji Yatra will commence on 1st July this year, simultaneously from both the routes – the Pahalgam track in Anantnag district and Baltal in Ganderbal district and it will culminate on 31st August 2023.

The Lt Governor attended the Pratham Puja to mark the ceremonial beginning of the Annual Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra, through video conferencing today.The Lt Governor sought the blessings of Baba Amarnathji and prayed for the good health and well-being of one and all.Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board has been organising Pratham Puja at the Holy Cave on the auspicious occasion of Jyeshtha Purnima every year.

“For millions of devotees all over the world, pilgrimage to the Holy Cave of Baba Amarnath is a cherished life-long dream,” the Lt Governor said.

“Dedicated efforts have been made in the last few years to bring about perceptible improvements in infrastructure and other facilities” he said

.“The officials of Shri Amarnath Ji Shrine Board are working hard to ensure that needs and requirements of devotees are taken care of during the Yatra. We are constantly striving for better facilities and services for pilgrims,” the Lt Governor observed.

The Lt Governor also acknowledged the immense contribution of the local residents to the successful conduct of the Yatra that will commence from 1st July. It will also increase the livelihood opportunities and boost the local economy, he added.

Dr Mandeep Kumar Bhandari, Chief Executive Officer, Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board, members of the Shrine Board; senior officials of SASB, Army and Lt Governor’s Secretariat also attended the Pratham Puja.