Nearly 50K pilgrims arriving daily at Vaishno Devi shrine
Learning lessons from the unfortunate tragedy that struck on the first day of 2022, in which 14 devotees had lost their lives in a stampede at Bhavan, Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine has made adequate security arrangements and chalk out crowd management plans to regulate the inflow of pilgrims.
As per officials the Holy cave shrine of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi has been witnessing heavy rush of pilgrims with approximately 50,000 yatris (pilgrims) arriving in Jammu and Katra every day in view of year end and winter holidays in educational institutes.
Officials added that despite the huge rush of pilgrims on New Year there will be no difficulty in visiting Mata Vaishno Devi shrine this time as the Board and district administration Reasi have made a comprehensive plan for the devotees to have darshan without any hassle.
They added that to manage the crowd, the entire route, right from base camp Katra to Bhawan, have been divided into six sectors, where senior officers were deployed to regulate the pilgmans movement.
The six sectors were namely as base camp Katra, Banganga area, Tarakot Marg, AardhKwari, BhairavGhati and Maa Vaishno Devi Bhawan, the under construction portion from Manokamna Sthal to the Durga Bhawan at Bhawan has also been made a separate sector, where the tragedy stuck in 2022.
Disaster Management, Police and CRPF personnel along with the Enforcement Wing of the Shrine Board Administration will be deployed at every 50 meters on the one kilometer road from Manokamna Sthal to the under-construction Durga Bhavan. This 50 meter portion has also been named as the sector.
Officials further informed that Deputy CEO level officers of Shrine Board Administration were posted in each sector assisted by manager level officers to keep a close watch on movement of the devotees. All six zones are supervised by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Shrine Board.
It is the responsibility of the jawans posted in each sector not to allow crowding in their area.
After darshan, the devotees will be taken out from the evacuation route made at Durga Bhavan only.
In addition to this five hundred advanced CCTV cameras have been installed on the yatra routes, which are under 24X7 observations by the experts from administration and security forces.
About 500 CCTV cameras with 3D capability have been installed from Darshan Deodhi, the entrance of Vaishno Devi Yatra to Bhawan and on Tarakot Marg and BhairavGhati Marg.
Moreover, Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) travel cards are mandatory for travel. The pilgrims will not be able to go towards the Bhawan with these cards and in case of overcrowding, the Shrine Board will stop issuing RFID cards from base camp Katra.
Moreover, the officials of the Intelligence agencies will keep a close watch on the entire journey. There will be a joint control room on the Bhawan. It will be monitored jointly by the Shrine Board Administration and the Police Administration. The main control room at the Shrine Board’s spiritual center at base camp Katra will function round the clock.
“Complete arrangements have been made to control the crowd at Mata’s building on New Year. The important route from Manokamna Sthal to Durga Bhavan, where construction is going on, is on special monitoring. There will be a complete ban on rest or sleeping on this one kilometer route. Control rooms have been set up to monitor the yatra,” said Anshul Garg, CEO, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board
Meanwhile, security has been beefed up at Vaishno Devi shrine afterrecent encounter with terrorists in Sidhra, Jammu.
Security has been tightened in Katra and adjoining areas including the Bhawan.
Along with the police, a strict vigil is being kept on every visitor by the security forces personnel. The checking of goods and vehicles is being done at the check posts entering Katra.
CRPF personnel and other agencies are handling the security arrangements of Katra including Vaishno Devi Bhawan Marg. At the same time, the security forces along with the police are on full alert in the outer areas adjoining Katra and around the Trikuta mountain of Maa Vaishno Devi. Common people including passengers are also being informed continuously that they should inform the police on seeing any suspicious object or person.
Additional number of police as well as security forces personnel have been deployed at all the security posts along Katra.
Vehicles are allowed to enter Katra only after checking at the check posts. Police and security force personnel are constantly patrolling the Vaishno Devi Bhavan and the road and checking the people coming and going by putting special nakas.
SP Katra Amit Bhasin said that there will be no compromise on security after the encounter with terrorists in Jammu along with the gathering of devotees on New Year.
Security has been tightened in Bhawan and Katra. If the crowd remains more on the last day of the current year, then the Shrine Board administration and the police have made adequate arrangements for that also.
Devotees will be stopped at Katra or on the way and a limited number of devotees will be sent to the Bhawan.
