Ahead of Amarnath Yatra, J&K police to beef up security arrangements at transit camps & NH

The Jammu and Kashmir police have been directed on Wednesday to beef up security arrangements and keep a vigil on suspicious elements along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, ahead of the upcoming Amarnath Yatra in the union territory.

Ahead of the upcoming pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre-high holy cave shrine of Amarnath in the south Kashmir Himalayas, the J&K Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh on Wednesday visited the yatra camps along the highway and directed the police officials to step up security arrangements and keep a close eye on suspicious elements along the NH-44 (between Jammu and Srinagar).

According to the police spokesperson, DGP Singh visited the Amarnath yatra transit camps at Mir Bazaar, Walnut Factory and Lamber in Qazigund district of south Kashmir and Ramban district of the Jammu region and took stock of the security arrangements put in place for the pilgrims. The police chief also reviewed the security arrangement at other places including the Navyug tunnel, connecting Qazigund and Banihal towns and sought reports from the security deployments pertaining to the arrangements and area domination along the national highway.

Security arrangements to be beefed up to ensure smooth Yatra

During his visit, DGP Dilbag Singh also interacted with officers at different places while directing them to beef up the security arrangements to assure smooth conduct of the annual pilgrimage. He also directed the officers to further increase the security arrangements and keep a strict vigil on suspicious elements and movement along the national highway and areas surrounding the yatra transit camps.

Emphasising increased coordination and communication among the forces for a quick response to the requirements for the security and assistance of the pilgrims, Singh said that the security grid needs to be strengthened and all-important locations along the yatra route should be kept under round-the-clock surveillance, according to a police spokesperson.

Amarnath Yatra 2022

Notably, the 43-day-long annual Amarnath yatra is scheduled to start on June 30 from the twin routes -- traditional 48-km Nunwan in south Kashmir's Pahalgam and 14-km shorter Baltal in central Kashmir's Ganderbal -- after a hiatus of two years owing to the COVID-19 pandemic

Yatender Kumar, Deputy General Manager of Punjab National Bank, Jammu said, "The process of 'Yatri' registration for Amarnath Yatra began at the 316 branches of Punjab National Bank on April 11 and will continue till June 30. Yatris who had registered last year have to give ₹20 extra for the fee, which was ₹100 last, while it's ₹120 now".

It is pertinent to mention here that the Amarnath temple is a Hindu shrine located in Jammu and Kashmir. The cave is located at a height of 3,888 metres (12,756 ft). The cave, which is located in Lidder Valley, is surrounded by glaciers and snowy mountains and is covered in snow for the majority of the year, with the exception of a brief period in the summer when it is open to pilgrims. The Mahamaya Shakti Peetha, which resides in the Amarnath cave, is one of the 51 Shakti Peethas, or temples, scattered around South Asia that commemorate the location of the Hindu deity Sati's fallen body parts.