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‘Registration for Amarnath yatra down by 10% post J&K terror attack’
J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha asserted that adequate security arrangements have been put in place for the annual pilgrimage which will start from July 3 and end on August 9 this year.
Srinagar: Only one-third of the pilgrims registered for this year’s Amarnath Yatra before the Pahalgam terror attack have confirmed their travel to the cave shrine, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said on Thursday, noting that overall pilgrim registration has dropped by over 10% from last year in the wake of the April 22 attack.
Addressing a press conference at Raj Bhavan in Srinagar, Sinha asserted that adequate security arrangements have been put in place for the annual pilgrimage which will start from July 3 and end on August 9 this year.
“The pilgrim registration before the April 22 incident was going on at a good pace but after that the registrations decreased. There was a drop of 10.19% in registration compared to last year,” Sinha said.
He pointed out that around 236,000 pilgrims had registered for the yatra before the terror attack that left 26 people — mostly tourists — dead at picturesque Baisaran meadows. Last year, around 512,000 pilgrims had performed the yatra, the highest in over a decade.
“The confidence among the pilgrims is returning due to the steps taken by the Jammu and Kashmir Administration and the security forces which has resulted in the registrations picking up again,” Sinha said.
The LG pointed out that the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) has launched a process of seeking reverification from the pilgrims who had registered for the yatra before April 22. “So far, 85,000 pilgrims have reconfirmed their registration. We are hoping that the registrations will pick up in the coming days,” he said.
The lieutenant governor is the chairman of the shrine board. Every year, hundreds of thousands of Hindu devotees from across the country visit the cave shrine of Amarnath situated at a height of 3,880 metre in the Himalayas passing through treacherous mountain routes, glaciers and ice fed streams. Pahalgam is one of the two main base camps of the Amarnath yatra.
When asked if the Pahalgam terror attack had affected the Amarnath Yatra this year, Sinha said it had affected the entire J&K, particularly the valley.
The LG said he wanted to assure everyone that good security arrangements have been made not only for pilgrims and tourists visiting Kashmir but the local populace as well.
“There is a three-tier security at the base camps while security forces are carrying out area domination and mock drills to meet any eventuality. More police officials and CAPF personnel have been deployed while verification of all service providers has been completed,” he added.
