SASB striving to make Amarnath yatra safe for pilgrims: JK Guv

The Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) is making all efforts to ensure that the annual pilgrimage to the cave shrine is a comfortable and safe experience for Yatris, Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra said today.

The SASB is working continuously for improving the facilities and conveniences provided to the pilgrims and in the past 10 years very significant investments have been made to establish infrastructure arrangements at the base camps and enroute the holy cave, Vohra said at a function here.

Vohra, who is also the chairman of the SASB, was speaking after releasing Pratibhigya, a publication brought out by Baba Amarnath and Budha Amarnath Yatri Niyas.

With the widening of tracks, installation of side railings along the tracks, increased number of toilets and baths in the camps, and prompt evacuation of seriously injured or patients to nearby healthcare facilities, the SASB is striving to make the pilgrimage a comfortable and safe experience for the Yatris, he said.

The governor said the board is continuously updating the registered Yatris through SMSes regarding various aspects of the pilgrimage, particularly about weather forecasts, so that they are able to plan their journey safely.

Expressing sadness over the causalities of the yatris in road accidents in July last year, Vohra said the safety and security of the pilgrims continue to remain the prime concern of the Board which bears the expenses for airlifting of the bodies of those killed and their kin to their native places.

From 2017, the amount of ex gratia provided in cases of accidental deaths has been increased to Rs 3 lakh, he said, and lauded the cooperation extended by the state administration and the yatri niyas to the SASB for the smooth conduct of pilgrimage last year which went on uninterrupted despite a terrorist attack on a bus carrying pilgrims.