Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 27: All Jammu Hotels and Lodges Association (AJHLA) has expressed its utmost satisfaction over the decision taken in the High-level Committee meeting of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, chaired by the Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir UT, B V R Subramanyam.
The chairman of the Hotel Association, Inderjeet Khajuria while lauding the initiatives taken for Shri Amarnath Yatra 2021 resented the visit of Parliamentary Standing Committee for Transport, Culture and Tourism delegation to Kashmir only, ignoring Jammu completely once again.
According to Pawan Gupta, president of the Association, Shri Amarnath Yatra is a big and holy pilgrimage for the people all over the world but unfortunately last year, it had to be cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic and also in the year 2019, it was stalled midway due to abrogation of Articles 370 and 35 A and stakeholders are now very jubilant over the decision of the Government for making preparations for an expected footfall of six lakh yatris.
He said a few years ago, Supreme Court had issued directions to J & K Government to take adequate measures such as widening of tracks with laying of tiles, installation of railing, construction of retaining walls, etc. for making the yatra safe and hassle free but no steps have been taken in this regard till date. Hopefully, present decisions taken in the meeting by the Chief Secretary, if put in place honestly would give a fillip to yatra and economy of J&K UT.
Gupta further added that the main motivating force for the pilgrims of Shri Amarnath Yatra is the natural formation of snow lingam of Bhagwan Shiv and keeping the snow lingam intact in full form it is imperative for promotion of the yatra.
In this context, the Association appealed the Government to protect the snow lingam as per the suggestions and reports made by DRDO and IIT with the help of curtain raiser and glass slab which will go a long way to help the smooth and full duration of yatra.
Other office bearers present in the meeting were M L Sharma, Anil Khajuria, Pritam Sharma, H S Manhas, Baldev Raj, Swarn Singh, Sankul Gupta, Manpreet Singh, Nishant Gupta, Varun Gupta and Sunil Suri.
Follow our WhatsApp channel