Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 13: A team of J&K Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) along with Jammu Chapter of INTACH here today conducted a joint visit of water bodies falling along traditional Shri Mata Vaishno Devi route.
Dr. Bharat Bhushan, CEO IWMP, J&K; S.M Sahni, Convener INTACH Jammu chapter; Arvind Kotwal, Coordinator INTACH pilgrim heritage; Pradeep Kumar, Project Manager IWMP Reasi; Preeti Sharma, Project Manager IWMP Jammu along with technical staff were in the team that visited water bodies falling on traditional Shri Mata Vaishno Devi route.
At the outset S.M Sahni appraised that since centuries the pilgrims from far-off places including Lahore, Sailkot and Peshawar used to visit the shrine of revered Shree Mata Vaishno Devi Ji after passing through Chibba, Marh, Bamyal, Chhapanoo and Kanjli villages to reach Karta.
“The philanthropist pilgrims constructed step wells, wells and inns on this route to meet water and dwelling needs of the pilgrims and in this process they also constructed temples at Chibba, Marh, Bamyal, Chhapanoo and Kanjli which have great archaeological significance,” a handout stated.
The visiting team also included Dr. Mithas Ahmad Dar, GIS expert of IWMP; Dr. Mehraj-ud-Din Khanday, District Level Technical Expert, Reasi and Makhmoor Ahmad, District Level Technical Expert Jammu.
After visit, the technical experts will prepare PPRs for effective restoration and conservation of the water bodies.
It is pertinent to mention here that this route is 10 km shorter than Nagrota-Domail route and has many ancient shines dedicated to Mata Vaishno Devi Ji.
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