New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired a high-level meeting in the national capital on Friday reviewing the preparations for the Amarnath Yatra in the presence of the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Shri Manoj Sinha, and Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla. Director, of the Intelligence Bureau Tapan Deka, Director General of the Border Security Force and Central Reserve Police Force Sujoy Lal Thaosen, Director General of Border Roads Organisation Lt Gen Rajeev Chaudhary, Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir Arun Kumar Mehta, and other senior officials of the Army, central government and Jammu and Kashmir administration were also present in the meeting.
The home minister directed to make adequate security arrangements on the entire route of the Amarnath Yatra. The 62-day-long annual pilgrimage to the cave shrine of Amarnath, located at a height of 3880 metres in the south Kashmir Himalayas, will begin on July 1 and continue till August 31. He also stressed the comfortable darshan of the pilgrims during the meeting.
He further directed to provide smooth arrangements on the route from the airport and railway station to the Yatra base camp. Shah directed to provide air service from Srinagar and Jammu at night for the convenience of the pilgrims. Ensuring adequate stock of oxygen cylinders and their refilling, and availability of additional teams of doctors were also the other points that the home minister stressed during the review meeting.
The Home Minister also directed an adequate number of medical beds and the deployment of ambulances and helicopters to meet any medical emergency. The minister asked both the central government and J&K officials to ensure a better communication system on the Yatra route and the deployment of machines to immediately open the route in case of a landslide.
Shah also took stock of the plans being formulated to ensure foolproof security for the pilgrimage. Like every year there have been intelligence inputs that Pakistan-based terrorist groups may try to disrupt the pilgrimage. Hence, it has been decided during the meeting that all the pilgrims of Amarnath Yatra will be given RFID cards so that their real-time location can be traced. Rs. 5 lakh insurance for each Amarnath Yatri and Rs 50,000 for each animal will be done.
Also, arrangements for tent city, Wi-Fi hotspots and proper lighting will be made on the travel route. Additionally, online live darshan of Baba Barfani, live telecast of morning and evening aarti in the holy Amarnath cave and religious and cultural programs will be organized at the base camp.