Pilgrims need registration to avoid inconvenience: SASB

Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) today cautioned intending pilgrims against reaching the Baltal and Pahalgam base camps without registration even as all arrangements for this year's pilgrimage to the cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas will be completed tomorrow.
"All intending pilgrims are advised against reaching Baltal or Pahalgam without first obtaining a valid registration permit as, otherwise, they would face avoidable difficulties and inconvenience," Chief Executive Officer of SASB Navin K Choudhary said in a statement.
Choudhary said all the arrangements for the yatra, which is scheduled to begin on Friday, will be completed by tomorrow.
This year the SASB had opened 422 registration counters across the country against 174 last year, he said.

"This year registration was commenced three months in advance of the Yatra to ensure that every intending pilgrim could timely go through the process," the CEO added.
Choudhary said any pilgrim who arrives in Jammu without valid registration should proceed to Vaishnavi Dham and Saraswati Dham at Railhead Jammu and Jammu Haat in Jammu city, after obtaining a compulsory health certificate from a notified doctor or medical institution.

They can then go to the counters in the aforesaid complexes for securing registration, he said.
"Those pilgrims who reach Srinagar without registration should go to the Tourist Reception Centre (TRC), Srinagar for seeking registration after obtaining compulsory health certificate," he added.

The CEO said as per the Special High Powered Committee recommendations, which have been endorsed by the Supreme Court, the district administration is bound to stop all those pilgrims who attempt to undertake the Yatra without valid registration.