HC seeks details on alternate Amarnath routes

NEW DELHI, July 17: The Delhi High Court today asked the Central and the Jammu and Kashmir governments to place on record more information on the two alternate trekking routes, apart from the traditional route through Pahalgam, to the holy shrine of Amarnath. Earlier in the day, the court watched the Doordarshan documentary on the Amarnath route.

A Division Bench comprising Justice Mahinder Narain and Justice S K Mahajan asked the governments why the alternative routes of Balta and Kulan were closed. “The governments should state in an affidavit whether the roads have been closed because of security reasons or something else,” observed the Bench. Additional Solicitor General Abhishekh Manu Singhvi was asked to place the two routes on record and mark them on a survey map of the country.

“We would like to have all the free routes marked on the Survey of India map so that we can evolve the possibility of having alternative routes to the prevailing 48 km Pahalgam Seshnag route,” ruled the Bench. The judges were hearing three public interest petitions filed by Om Prakash Goyal, Vijay Mittal and Swami Sachidanand Saraswati.