2 nodal officers appointed for conduct of Amarnath Yatra

Our Correspondent

& Agencies

Srinagar/jammu, June 19

The J&K Government on Wednesday appointed two senior officers as nodal officers for the smooth conduct of Amarnath Yatra 2024.

A government order issued on Wednesday said, “It is hereby ordered that these two officers shall be the nodal officers for smooth conduct of Amarnath Yatra-2024. Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, Administrative Secretary, Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, shall be the nodal officer for Baltal axis and Bhupinder Kumar, IAS, Administrative Secretary, Public Works (R&B) Department, for Pahalgam axis.”

“The officers shall closely monitor and liaise with all agencies concerned involved in the conduct of the yatra and shall report to Chief Executive Officer, Shri Amarnath Ji Shrine Board, on a regular basis,” the order said.

This year’s 52-day-long Amarnath Yatra starts on June 29 and will conclude on August 19 coinciding with the Raksha Bandhan and Shravan Purnima festivals.

Yatris use either the shorter north Kashmir Baltal base camp route or the traditional longer south Kashmir Pahalgam route to reach the holy cave situated 3,888m above sea level in the Kashmir Himalayas.

Meanwhile, Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Ramesh Kumar, today visited Yatri Facilitation Centre Lakhanpur and also inspected the status of the national highway from Jammu to Lakhanpur. He took stock of arrangements for the smooth transition of Amarnath Yatra from the gateway of JK — Lakhanpur — en route Jammu.

The Divisional Commissioner, accompanied by Project Director NHAI and SSP Traffic, rural took first-hand appraisal of the works being executed on the national highway in Jammu, Samba and Kathua. He directed the officials concerned to ensure smooth road surface for hassle-free movement of vehicles on the NH.

Kumar further asked the district officials concerned and SSP Traffic Rural to identify the spots prone to jams and deploy men and machinery in the respective districts for preventing any hindrance to smooth traffic.

At Lakhanpur, Kumar was briefed by Deputy Commissioner Kathua about the facilities and amenities being set up for the yatris entering Lakhanpur by road.

He said that the administration has made elaborate arrangements for a warm welcome and comfortable stay of the yatris.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) centres, besides an adequate number of bathrooms, toilets, drinking water booths, are being set up. Arrangements are also being made for 24x7 langar facilities for the yatris.

As many as 12 RFID counters are being established at Lakhanpur to facilitate smooth registration of the yatris. All the vital areas, besides langar and lodgememt centres, are equipped with CCTV surveillance to ensure security of the yatris, it was informed. Kumar appealed to people, especially owners of commercial establishments, to install CCTV for proper surveillance especially on national highway.

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