Ensure smooth, incident-free Amarnath yatra: J&K DGP to forces

Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police S P Vaid today directed a slew of security measures to ensure smooth and incident-free 40-day annual yatra to the 3,880 metre high holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas, beginning June 29.
Personal supervision and briefing of jawans by senior officers, foolproof security arrangements around base camps, strengthening ofchecking and deployment of quick reaction teams are part of the measures announced by Vaid at a high- level meeting convened for charting out security arrangements for the yatra which will end on August 7, a police spokesman said.
Senior local and central armed police forces' officers attended the meeting which discussed in detail the arrangements for the yatra from Lakhanpur - gateway to Jammu - to the holy cave in south Kashmir.

The DGP directed the officers, both jurisdictional and those deployed for the yatra duty, to ensure personal supervision and regularly brief the jawans from time to time for smooth and incident free yatra.
Foolproof security arrangements should be put in place around the base camps at Bagwatinagar in Jammu and Baltal and Nunwan along the twin tracks in Anantnag and Ganderbal districts in Kashmir, and lodgement and reception centres all along the routes, Vaid said.
He called for strengthening of road opening patrols, checking squads and identification of spots which are prone to law and order problems and militancy related incidents.

The DGP directed the officers that law and order issues, particularly at base camps, need to be addressed promptly so that issues do not snowball into a major problem.

"Law and order components and quick reaction teams must be placed on all the identified places to address any law and order or militancy related incident in the shortest possible time," vaid said.
He said the regulation of traffic on all the roads used by the yatris from Lakhanpur to Baltal and Chandanwari be managed effectively in order to avoid the jams on the roads and delay in the movement of convoys f yatris.

"It should also be ensured that stray vehicles are not mixed with the convoys and thereby enhancing the risk of incidents," he said, and directed for deployment of adequate rescue teams on both the axis of Pahalgam and Baltal for help and evacuation of the injured yatris.