Online registration for Amarnath pilgrimage to start from April

The Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) on Thursday night announced commencement of registration of pilgrims for yatra through online mode from April and said RFID-based tracking will be put in place for the movement of vehicles during pilgrimage to the shrine in South Kashmir Himalayas.

"The online registration will start through banks in the month of April 2022 with a limit of 20,000 registrations fixed per day", Additional CEO SASB Rahul Singh said during a high-level meeting chaired by Jammu Divisional Commissioner Raghav Langer to review the arrangements for the upcoming yatra.

He said that on-spot registrations will also be held at designated counters during yatra days.

Singh said that to ensure the safety of Amarnath pilgrims, the board has decided to use Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for tracking movement of vehicles and pilgrims during this year's pilgrimage to the revered Shrine.

The RFID tag cards will be issued to all the pilgrims, he said.

The Divisional Commissioner instructed the DCs to install an adequate number of toilets, water coolers en-route highway for convenience of the pilgrims.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual pilgrimage in 2020 and 2021 was conducted on symbolic basis. So, it is expected that the number of pilgrims may be high this time as compared to the previous years.

Accordingly, the Divisional Commissioner directed Deputy Commissioners for increasing accommodation capacities, holding spaces in their respective districts. The DCs were directed to identify suitable places for langers and accommodation of devotees, vehicles holding in their respective districts.

The DCs were also directed to ensure availability of CCTVs, lighting and genset arrangements at Langer sites. He further instructed all the departments concerned to start preparedness to ensure that all necessary arrangements are put in place well in advance.