Is state risking pilgrims with overcrowding' Amarnath?

Srinagar: Are the authorities in Jammu and Kashmir and Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) risking the lives of devotees by allowing overcrowding at and around the 3,888 m (12,756 ft) high revered cave-shrine in Kashmir Himalayas?

For logistical reasons and also to ensure their safety, it was decided at the 36th meeting of the SASB held in winter capital Jammu on March 7 this year to allow 7,500 pilgrims to travel to Amarnath every day, each through shorter Baltal and traditional Pahalgam routes, excluding those flying there by helicopters.

A statement issued after the meeting which was chaired by J&K governor, Satya Pal Malik, who is also the chairman of the SASB which manages the affairs of the annual event, had said, “The board deliberated at length on the number of yatris who would be allowed to register, date-wise and route-wise, for this year’s yatra. Considering the carrying capacity of the existing tracks and other available infrastructure in the yatra area, the board decided that 7,500 yatris, per day per each of the two routes, excluding yatris who would travel by helicopters, would be allowed to secure advance registration for the pilgrimage”.

The board has been repeatedly saying that none of the unregistered pilgrims would be allowed to relocate to Amarnath. A pilgrim is registered only after producing compulsory health certificate issued by a doctor or hospital nominated by the state or Union Territory in which he or she resides. The yatra permit thus issued is valid for the specified date and route.

However, on Thursday as many as 16,789 and on Friday 16,745 pilgrims, were allowed to pay obeisance at the cave-shrine. Only a few hundred of them flew to Amarnath from the Neelgrath (Baltal) and Panjtarni (Pahalgam) helipads. The 46-day yatra began on July 1 and, according to a statement issued by the SASB here on Friday, 67,228 devotees have had darshan of the Shivling at Amarnath, so far. The statement added that they included 16,745 pilgrims who paid obeisance at the cave-shrine on July 5.

In 1996, thousands of pilgrims were caught in an untimely snowstorm, resulting into the death of 273 pilgrims and scores of their Kashmiri hosts and helpers, including ponnywallas and labourers. Nitish Sengupta Committee, formed by the government after the catastrophe, had in its report released on December 2, 1996 made several recommendations which included regulation of the number of people visiting the cave-shine and making registration of the pilgrims and allocation of fixed quota to various states mandatory. The report had asked for allowing a total of 3,500 pilgrims to the cave-shrine every day-2,800 from Pahalgam and 700 from Baltal routes.