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| SASB to construct 12 feet wide tracks for pilgrims | | Making Amarnath Yatra Easy | | Early Times Report
Jammu, June 7: Trekking through the treacherous terrains snaking through the hills is going to be a thing of the past for the devotees taking part in annual Shri Amarnath Yatra. The pilgrimage is going to be the smooth from now onwards.
Shri Amarnath Shrine Board has decided to widen both the tracks of Baltal and Pahalgam. The new tracks will be 12 feet wide and will have separate passage for horses and palanquins and pedestrians.
Reports informed further that due to the erratic climatic conditions, traveling on both the tracks is strewn with dangers and people often, especially the aged pilgrims get injured due to the slippery pathways. Women in particular face a plethora of problems.
Taking into considerations such hardships being faced by the devotees, the board has decided to prepare a macadamized track. There will be guardrails on both sides of the track for the convenience of the devotees at places wherein the path is narrow.
By virtue of such a decision, the journey will not be affected even if the weather is inclement. Travel will be halted only if the weather is too bad to handle like the wind and the snowstorms. Another advantage is that the time and money spent in repairing the track every year will also be saved.
The macadamized track will be made operational within a stipulated time frame. According to sources, it has also been decided that proper arrangement of drinking water and toilets will also be made on both the tracks as per the requirement. This facility is still available, but wherever it is needed, it will be arranged accordingly. The board administration wants to provide facilities to the devotees similar to the ones provided to Vaishno Devi pilgrims. This will make the journey easier and increase the number of visitors.
The cave, housing the shrine, is situated 14,500 kilometers above sea level in the Himalayan mountains in Kashmir.
Lakhs of devotees, every year, between the months of June and August, trek the rigorous rocky pathways snaking around mountains to reach the cave. The divisional commissioners of both the regions of Jammu as well as of Kashmir were asked to keep the preparations for this year’s Yatra ready and intact as the government was expecting a huge rush of pilgrims this year. Last year the annual pilgrimage couldn’t take place due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the subsequent imposition of lockdown across the country for many months. |
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