Having kept the annual Amarnath pilgrimage suspended for two consecutive years, the J&K Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha on Sunday announced that the 43-days long pilgrimage to the holy cave shrine in Kashmir will commence on 30 June.

Sinha made the announcement after chairing a meeting of the  Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB).

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Sinha tweeted; “The 43-day holy pilgrimage will commence on 30th June with all covid protocols in place & culminate, as per the tradition, on the day of Raksha Bandhan. We had an in-depth discussion on various issues also on upcoming Yatra”.

Members of the recently reconstituted SASB, chief secretary Arun Kumar, DGP Dilbag Singh, and top officers attended the meeting.

Sources said that the SASB also discussed the security aspect of pilgrims. Further deliberations on the issue of security will be held with the Home Ministry, Army, security forces, and intelligence agencies.

The SASB headed by Sinha had earlier suspended the pilgrimage in 2020 and 2021 as a precautionary measure against Covid-19. It was held on a symbolic basis these two years. The pilgrimage was also abruptly cut short in 2019 when pilgrims and tourists were ordered to move out of J&K in August when Article 370 was abrogated.

The footfall of pilgrims is expected to be higher this time.

The top brass of the Army, Police, BSF, CRPF, and intelligence agencies has taken stock of the security situation, particularly in south Kashmir.

The administration in Jammu and the Kashmir valley was building up the system to handle a large number of pilgrims and also their boarding, lodging, travel, and security.

The SASB has decided to use Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for tracking pilgrims and vehicles during the pilgrimage. Registration of pilgrims will begin in April across the country.

For the safety of Amarnath Yatris, the board has decided to use RFID for tracking the movement of vehicles and pilgrims during this year’s pilgrimage to the revered Shrine. RFID tag cards will be issued to all the pilgrims.

Online registration will begin through banks in the month of April with a limit of 20000 registrations fixed per day, while on-spot registrations will also be held at designated counters during Yatra days.