Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta on Thursday undertook an extensive visit of Baltal axis via Panjtarni to holy Amarnath cave shrine. He chaired a meeting of officers and made first hand appraisal of arrangements for yatris for ongoing Shri Amarnathji Yatra.
The meeting was attended by Nodal Officer, Yatra, (Baltal Axis), Raghav Langar; Deputy Commissioner Ganderbal, Shyambir; Deputy Commissioner Anatnag, Syed Hamid; SSP Ganderbal, Nikhil Borkar; Camp Director Baltal, ADC Ganderbal; CMO, SDM Kangan besides senior officers from various security agencies.
The Chief Secretary took a brief about the arrangements from the officers put in place for yatris including sanitation measures, lodging, drinking water, tents and langar facility, health, security and other arrangements.
He urged the officers to work with synergy and make strenuous efforts to extend essential services and basic amenities at every destination to the pilgrims so that this religious pilgrimage is made a memorable and life time experience for devotees.
While reviewing the sanitation measures, the Chief Secretary directed ACD Ganderbal to ensure that sanitation teams are sensitized regularly, especially those deputed on track, so that the annual Amarnathji Yatra is transformed into a zero-waste pilgrimage by promoting cleanliness and waste management.
While taking the feedback regarding arrangements and status of ongoing yatra, Chief Secretary appreciated all stakeholders for their commendable work since the commencement of Yatra and asked them to further improve the facilities so that devotees may not suffer due to paucity of any facility. Meanwhile, around 1.60 lakh pilgrims from across the country have so far visited the cave shrine.
