Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, June 12: The additional para-military forces, sanctioned by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for security of Shri Amarnath ji pilgrims have started arriving at Jammu and Srinagar and their deployment along the twin tracks of Pahalgam and Baltal would start on June 22 to complete security drill and make final arrangements well before start of the annual pilgrimage on July 2.
Official sources told the Excelsior that the Pahalgam Development Authority (PDA) has set June 22 as deadline for its men and machinery to clear Chandanwari track of snowfall, avalanches and other material from the track right up to holy cave of Shri Amarnath ji and it was hopeful that the task would be achieved by that day.
“When the track is completely cleared of snow and avalanches, we will hand it over to Shri Amarnath Ji Shrine Board (SASB),’” they said.
According to sources, the Police Department would start induction of Army, para-military forces, police etc, most likely from the same day i.e. June 22 to ensure that the deployment was complete on both the tracks-Chandanwari and Baltal well before start of the yatra from July 2. The pilgrimage will continue till August 18 coinciding with the day of Shravan Purnima and Raksha Bandhan.
Sources said similar was the position along shorter Baltal track, which was likely to be cleared of snow completely in the next few days followed by repair work and induction of the troops.
“It has been decided that Army would man natural cave of Shri Amarnath ji shrine, located at the Icy heights of 12,756 feet from the sea level in South Kashmir Himalayas. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), whose jawans are expert in mountaineering and trekking, will also be deployed at the heights while rest of the area of twin tracks of Baltal and Chandanwari will be manned by CRPF, SSB, Jammu and Kashmir Police, Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police and police personnel mobilized from all across the State,” they said.
In addition, the teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) would also be deployed at the vulnerable areas. The NDRF teams would reach here only three to four days before start of the yatra.
Pointing out that there were no reasons for delay in the yatra, sources said, both the track would be ready for the tough pilgrimage on July 2 as there had been very less snow this year, which would be cleared well ahead of the time. The pilgrimage from Jammu would start on July 1 while from Nunwan (Pahalgam) and Baltal, it would start on July 2 morning. The Baltal batch will have darshan of holy Ice Lingam of Lord Shiva inside the natural cave the same day.
According to sources, high level teams of the Shrine Board, State Government, security agencies etc would have review of security arrangements along both the tracks after June 22 when they would be fully cleared of the snowfall.
The induction of teams by the State Government including medical teams etc would also be deployed a week in advance of the yatra. The pre-fabricated huts and tents for such teams would be thrown open around June 22.
As reported exclusively by the Excelsior, the Union Home Ministry had recently approved 125 additional companies of para-military forces for Jammu and Kashmir for deployment along yatra route and National Highways for safety of Amarnath Ji pilgrims.
Sources said the CRPF along with JKP would man both the National Highways-Pathankot-Jammu and Jammu-Srinagar apart from the base camps of pilgrims at Bhagwati Nagar, Jammu, Baltal and Nunwan in Pahalgam.
Meanwhile, the Home Department of the State Government today sent 12 KPS officers in the rank of DySPs on short-term deputation to Shri Amarnath Ji Shrine Board for posting as Additional Camp Directors during the yatra.
They included Dheeraj Singh Katoch, presently posted in JKAP 7th battalion, Ashish Gupta (JKAP 8th battalion), Lov Karan Taneja (IRP 13th battalion), Manoj Kumar (IRP 13th battalion), Satish Bhardwaj (IRP 16th battalion), Jigmet Lhundup (IRP 18th battalion), Shamsher Singh, (IRP 20th battalion), Amit Kumar Sharma (IRP 17th battalion), Manish Kumar Sharma (JKAP 5th battalion), Arvinder Singh Kotwal (IRP 5th battalion), Shivender Singh Jamwal (IRP 15th battalion) and Jaswant Singh (IRP 19th battalion).
“The DySPs have been asked to report to Raj Bhawan, Srinagar on June 15 for further deployment as Additional Camp Directors till conclusion of Amarnath Ji yatra,” an order issued by RK Goyal, Principal Secretary, Home Department, said.
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