Shrine board decides to upgrade infra to cater rush

Taking a lesson from the first-ever stampede at cave shrine on day one of the year 2022, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board is going to create additional infrastructure to cope up with the heavy rush of the pilgrims at the Bhawan.

The Shrine Board, which is managing the Yatra of the cave shrine situated at an altitude of 5,200 feet in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir, is going to raise an additional infrastructure to accommodate 1,600 to 1,700 pilgrims at the Bhawan situated in Trikuta Hills.

The upcoming infrastructure having dormitories is expected to be completed by Navratras in the month of October this year.

According to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Shrine Board, Ramesh Kumar, the new infrastructure of dormitories is coming up at Durga Bhawan, which is being upgraded with additional facilities.

The most revered cave shrine generally attracts close to a million devotees every year. This cave shrine usually witnesses a huge rush of pilgrims on the eve of the new year.

Earlier, on the first of day of this year 12 pilgrims died and thirteen were injured following a stampede at the Shrine on January 1. That was the first such incident at the Shrine.

At the time of the incident, about 50,000 devotees were gathered on the eve of the new year. It is believed that cause of the stampede was a huge rush of devotees at the Bhawan.

Director-General of Jammu and Kashmir Police Dilbag Singh had stated that a minor altercation among some young boys led to a stampede at Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in which 12 people lost their lives.

“The incident occurred around 2:45 am, and as per initial reports, an argument broke out which resulted in people pushing each other, followed by stampede”, the DGP had stated.

According to reports, with the development of new infrastructure, as many as 1,700 devotees will be accommodated at the Bhawan. The facility for the stay of the devotees will be more than doubled.

Apart from Gauri Bhawan, Vaishnavi Bhawan, and Manokamna Bhawan, Kalika Bhavan has an online booking facility for the stay of the devotees. Often rooms are not available as they get booked online, so the pilgrims arriving at Bhawan can avail the facility of dormitory.