Heavy security in place for Amarnath Yatra

Around 10,000 securitymen drawn from various agencies will be deployed to ensure the safety of pilgrims during this year’s Amarnath Yatra...

Around 10,000 securitymen drawn from various agencies will be deployed to ensure the safety of pilgrims during this year’s Amarnath Yatra, which officially starts on June 18. Around five lakh pilgrims are expected to take part in the two-month yatra.

A recent meeting of police and security officers, chaired by Jammu and Kashmir DGP Kuldeep Khuda, reviewed the security arrangements in detail. Sources said around 50 battalions of police and paramilitary men would be deployed in the Valley during the yatra.

While the state police and CRPF would guard various pilgrim camps at Pahalgam and Baltal, the BSF would keep vigil along various routes leading to the base camps.

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Besides, three battalions of the Army would keep a vigil on the upper reaches of the route. “We will keep a proactive approach to ensure that the yatra passes off peacefully,” said Prabakar Tripathi, the CRPF spokesman, in Srinagar.

On Thursday, DIG South Kashmir Muneer Khan said the authorities had taken strict measures to ensure that no one entered the cave before official commencement of the yatra.

The Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) has also asked pilgrims not to move towards the cave before the yatra begins.

“Police teams have been deployed at various points… even personnel deployed for yatra duty would not be allowed to have darshan before the scheduled date,” Khan said.

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Meanwhile, environmentalists and the state Pollution Control Board have expressed fear that the huge inflow of yatris will harm the ecology of the area.

They have also highlighted the fact that there is still no wastage disposal system along the yatra route. But Governor Lt Gen S K Sinha (retd), who also heads the SASB, said all necessary precautions were being taken to preserve the fragile ecology of the area.