Amaranth Yatra: “Holy cave is not a halting place….”
After tumultuous turn of events last week, thankfully so Amarnath Yatra has been resumed with authorities treading every step cautiously now. In the backdrop of high level vigil and some new decisions, the moot point is why this was not considered earlier. ..!
From politicians to common people, fingers were pointed to lapses and gaps, as to why and how past mistakes were repeated, not to speak of the mention of Nitish Sen Committee recommendations that were seen observed in breach.
A candid yet sharp dissection of all this leads to a collective indicator that authorities were caught ‘unprepared’ or neglectful on a number of counts, unintentionally though, that took a toll of 16 lives. Baba Barfani has been benevolent enough in terms of restricted toll this this time (it was much higher on earlier such mishaps) as it could have been worse without prompt rescue operations.
“ Full scale Preparation” used to be the key word and guide for this annual Pilgrimage and this would begin quite early, said a retired IAS officer with local background. After a gap of two years when the Yatra began this year, we were caught unprepared and dismissive of some harsh realities related to the preparations, the officer wishing anonymity said adding that though vast arrangements were in place but it was in contrariety to what this arduous pilgrimage and extremely vulnerable place actually needed.
Though no one did anything with malafide intent, there was no one at the helm who would or who could point out at certain measures which proved disastrous. This happened primarily due to the fact that almost every next officer at the helm was inexperienced or new to Yatra arrangement, both in administration as well as the security forces. This lapse was pointed out by another senior police officer who has been at the helm of annual pilgrimage for many years in the past. “ This is not to criticize or point out anyone as no one did it deliberately”, he said. The officers most of whom are outsiders (non local) could well have consulted those having thorough experience of past, he explained. The bigger lesson for those who raised tents and organised langars is that Holy cave and surrounding area is not a halting place. It is the fundamental principle of yatra, he further added.
However, in their enthusiasm to scale up the count, unrestricted pilgrims were allowed at odd hours, forcing them to stay beyond dusk that took a toll amid cloudburst mishap. Had there been no yatries around, perhaps no casualty would have resulted, the officer explained while lamenting erecting of makeshift halt stations near the cave. When it comes to pilgrimage, all need to understand there is no need to be under pressure to “facilitate their bosses or VIPs”, at the cost of lives of people, he explained alleging most of the time those on duty remain under duress to provide comforts to VIPs as pilgrims.
When this year Yatra gets over, it should be the prime task of administration to seek answers on some tough questions as to whose advise and permission dozens of tents and temporary structures were erected and why langars were allowed near the Cave. Though new decisions with regard to regulating timing and number of pilgrims at a particular time have been taken now, one wonders why this basic need was ignored?
