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| Pilgrims cry for help as violence flares | | | Early Times Reporter
Jammu | July 2
After weeklong of protests in Kashmir Valley and now a deteriorating situation in Jammu, the pilgrims headed for Shri Amarnath and Mata Vaishno Devi shrines have come on receiving end of the ugly situation created by the political designs.
In view of the ongoing shutdown, protests and demonstrations amidst curfew the pilgrims are facing acute problems of transport, medicare and food. All those arriving at Jammu railway station or the airport are unable to reach hotels while those staying in the city hotels have no transport facility to reach the terminals. A team of EARLY TIMES visiting several areas of city including Railway Station caught many pilgrims crying were help and found authorities clueless on the issue.
“With a complete shutdown prevailing in the towns and along highways we are not able to get even a bottle of water”, said Kishore Singh a pilgrims from Jagadhri in Haryana. The only eatery available to the pilgrims is a community kitchen inside the Raghunath temple which many hapless pilgrims are not aware of.
Many pilgrims were seen walking up the distance from city hotels to the Railway station. On the way they asked the Police officers on duty to help them with some transportation but the Police authorities skirted all such requests. Finally one Police bus was made available to a group of pilgrims who reached the Railway station late afternoon.
Meanwhile, the arrangements for the ongoing Shri Amarnathji Yatra were reviewed by Chief Secretary, S S Kapur and Director General of Police, Kuldeep Khoda besides the various concerned Civil, Police and Tourism Department officers, who visited the base camps and the Cave Shrine.
The visiting officers had interacted with the functionaries of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board, local level representatives of various government agencies, pilgrims and langerwallas. They also went round the camping sites and reviewed availability of various facilities like drinking water, electricity, medicare etc. During their inspection of the pre-fabricated huts and toilet blocs, they expressed satisfaction over the present level of arrangements and gave on-the-spot instructions for further improvement.
The Chief Secretary and the DGP also reviewed the security arrangements and traffic management on the pilgrimage route from Srinagar to Baltal.
During their interaction with pilgrims, the team led by Chief Secretary secured valuable valuable feedback on the available facilities and assured the yatris that every possible effort would be made to make their pilgrimage comfortable for, men and women, old and young, hailing from various parts of the country.
The Governor held detailed discussions with the Chief Secretary and later with the Director General of Police to identify issues on which the SASB would focus attention, in close coordination with all concerned agencies.
Meanwhile, official reports reaching here from Katra said that the pilgrimage at Mata Vaishno Devi yatra is going on smoothly with upto 10,000 pilgrims taking yatra parchi at the base camp Katra till 3 P.M for onward journey to cave shrine. Yesterday as many as 22154 pilgrims had the darshans at the holy cave shrine.
A large number of free langers have been organized at various places in Katra by Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board and locals so that the visiting pilgrims do not face any inconvenience in the present situation.
J&K SRTC is also plying buses to and fro between Katra and Railway Station. About 50 buses left from Katra upto 1 P.M ferrying the pilgrims to their destinations.
The local administration including SDM, Additional S.P, SDPO and SHO Katra are personally supervising the law and order situation and facilities being provided to pilgrims. |
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