Kinnaur admin bans pilgrims' movement to Kinner Kailash sans permission

A day after two pilgrims died on the way to Kinner Kailash in Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur district, the authorities Thursday banned the movement of devotees towards the holy place without permission.

Deputy Commissioner (DC) Gopal Chand said the Kinner Kailash Yatra would commence only after considering the weather conditions and nobody would be allowed to proceed before the official date.

Two pilgrims had died from cold en route to Kinner Kailash Wednesday, whereas the remaining three from their group were rescued.

The DC said the tour operators organising treks in the district should be registered with the Tourism Department and submit the list of trekkers at the nearest police station before commencing the journey.

While presiding over a meeting over illegal adventure and trekking activities in Kinnaur district, he said as per the Himachal Pradesh Miscellaneous Adventure Activities Rules, 2017, any such activity had to be carried out with prior permission of tourism officer and camping permission had to be obtained from the Forest Department.

The DC urged the local people to support the district administration and advice people against going to Kinner Kailash.

He asked officials to put up informative boards at Kinner Kailash entry points to prevent any untoward incident.

Kinnaur Superintendent of Police Sakshi Verma has also been directed to deploy manpower at the entry points.

Hundreds of pilgrims go every year to Kinner Kailash, a mountain at a height of 19,850 feet, to pay obeisance to Lord Shiva.

The district administration had fixed 10 days from July 1 for the pilgrimage.