'Foolproof' security arrangements for this year's Amarnath yatra

With a record number of pilgrims expected to arrive for the annual Amarnath yatra to the holy cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas this year, security agencies are making elaborate and foolproof security arrangements for a smooth yatra.

The 43-day yatra is scheduled to begin on June 30 and will culminate, as per the tradition, on the day of Raksha Bandhan, August 11. The online registration for the annual Yatra will start on April 11.

The yatra was cancelled midway in 2019 just before the special statute Article 370 to Jammu and Kashmir was scrapped and it was divided into two Union Territories. After that, only a symbolic yatra was observed in the last two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We expect a record number of pilgrims this year as Covid has settled down to a large extent,” J&K police chief Dilbagh Singh said. “As the number of pilgrims is going to be high this year, so will be their camps. We will accordingly put in place the security arrangement to ensure that the pilgrimage remains peaceful.”

Sources said the government has decided to deploy over 40,000 central paramilitary and police personnel to secure the 43-day yatra that begins on July 1 from the twin route - the traditional Pahalgam track in Anantnag district and the shortest Baltal track in Ganderbal district.

“There will be access control checking gadgets that will be deployed both at the Pahalgam and Baltal routes. Keeping in mind the security challenges, the CRPF has also deployed an enhanced number of its counter-IED (Improvised Explosive Devices) teams that will sweep roads and vehicles against IED threats,” they said.

In 2017, militants had attacked a pilgrim bus in Anantnag district leaving nine yatris dead and several injured. Since then, the security for the annual pilgrimage has been further enhanced.

Every year lakhs of pilgrims either take the traditional and longer 45km-long Pahalgam route or the shorter 14km-long Baltal route to Amarnath, one of Hinduism’s holiest shrines. The pilgrimage usually spans nearly a month-and-a-half and takes place during July and August.