JK News Today (Exclusive)
Jammu, March 08, 2023 : An important meeting of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), chaired by the Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha will decide on dates of the usually two months long Shri Amarnath ji Yatra.
The online registration will begin in first week of April 2023 after the banks are done with their financial year closing. The detailed guidelines will be issued after the meeting of the SASB which will be chaired by the LG and attended by board members, concerned officials of the administration besides officials of Jammu Kashmir Police, Para-military forces, Army and Intelligence.
The Yatra will start in first week of July and end on 30th Aug. 2023 (the Raksha Bandhan day which is full moon day of the Hindu calendar month of Shravana).
The security review meetings are already going on which will decide on requesting the Ministry of Home Affairs on additional troops requirement.
The meeting will dwell on details of Yatra arrangements from both traditional Pahalgam route and Baltal route. The tented accommodation for yatris, langars, medical facilities and number of yatris permitted on various points enroute the Shrine will be focus of the discussions.
The work on opening of the track has started from points where snow has melted and it may be widened where ever technically possible.
Recently National Highway Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) had stated that it was ready with preliminary report on construction of road project connecting holy cave shrine of Shri Amarnath Ji from Pahalgam-Panjtarni-SangamTop-Baltal and the project could be approved this year itself and completed in next four to five years. Once the road is built, pilgrims from across the country and Jammu and Kashmir will be able to visit and pay obeisance at the cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas. The route would start from Pahalgam via Panjtarni and Sangam top to Baltal. The environmentalists have expressed reservations on coming up of such road as they feel “it (road) will endanger the ecology and environment of the area.”
