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| Unsafe Shri Amarnath Yatra; J&K govt, SASB to blame? | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, July 26: If death count of pilgrims is any indication, Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) alongwith Jammu and Kashmir Government have made annual Yatra an unsafe journey for thousands of pilgrims across the country.
Such is the callousness of both the Board and the State Government that so far more than 100 pilgrims have died during the last one month of Yatra. The deaths prompted Supreme Court of India to take suo moto cognizance of increasing death toll. It has now framed a committee to look into problems being faced by pilgrims on way to Lord Shiva's cave shrine of Shri Amarnath in north Kashmir, situated at a height of 13,500 feet.
The trek to Lord Shiva's cave shrine of Shri Amarnath in north Kashmir is made even more difficult by huge number of pilgrims who insist on undertaking the journey despite the narrow and snowy paths not being equipped to handle increasing rush. There are definite instructions for pilgrims undertaking the Yatra but they refuse to listen. On the side, pilgrims talk of overcrowded tents, lying on bare ground, unsafe drinking water and police checking for namesake are the problems to begin with.
They say that as they approach Chandanwari, Yatra changes into maddening crowd pulling and pushing each other with local ponywallas crowding around Yatris and haggling starts drawing the Yatris to virtual mental imbalance. They further maintain that vendors sell mineral water upto Rs. 100 per bottle. Horsewalas keep on commenting on Yatris while CRPF and police watch as mute spectators.
Pilgrims do not hesitate in saying that faith is what keeps them going. They assert that on their way to the cave shrine, they meet ankle deep mud, frozen tents without electricity with each tent accommodating Yatris like flock of sheep and of course, local people enter inside tents during night time even if women are sleeping. Pilgrims maintain that arrangements are poor as compared to previous years.
"No one is giving us proper information and guidance. But despite all the harassment, our group is determined to carry on," said a Pilgrim Munish Malhotra while talking to Early Times. He added, "This time the arrangements for pilgrims are worst. We come with limited budget, most of which is exhausted on accommodation as the Shrine Board has not made proper arrangements."
Another pilgrim added that there is no co-operation between Board and Government over the management of Yatra. "Yatra is going on for years. Places along the route have been identified which are critical in terms of less oxygen and dangerous for health of pilgrims but no medical emergencies have been put in place in these crucial areas resulting in deaths," he disclosed.
The pilgrim disclosed that board officials are just doing their duties by collecting bodies of pilgrims while adding that there is urgent need to put in place medical emergency kits pertaining to critical ailments of heart attacks and high altitude sickness. "There is an urgent need for Government and Board to put in place full medical emergency setup in order to stop this vicious cycle of deaths of Amarnath pilgrims,", he said.
On the other side, Amarnath Shrine Board officials maintain that keeping in view the past behaviour of weather and the track conditions, the pilgrimage schedule was drawn in such a manner that the pilgrims don't face any problems but if some deaths have taken place, it is more due to non-adherence of guidelines already issued by the board.
It needs to be mentioned here that after the tragedy of 1996, when 243 pilgrims and porters were killed because of unseasonal snowfall and rains, a panel was constituted to suggest remedial measures. It had recommended that not more than 5,000 pilgrims be allowed for the pilgrimage each day and that the duration of the pilgrimage should not be more than one month. Both the recommendations have been honoured more in their breach than observance.
This year, the pilgrimage will last till Aug 2. Last year, nearly half a million pilgrims visited the shrine despite the summer unrest in the Kashmir valley that left 110 people dead in clashes between mobs and the security forces. There are two tracks leading to the shrine, one from Pahalgam, 100 km south of Srinagar, and another from Baltal, 110 km north. |
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