AmarnathYatra concludes on Raksha Bandhan
Governor directs early launch of sanitation drive
The annual AmarnathYatra concluded Sunday on the ‘ShravanPurnima’ amid chanting of religious hymns.
Governor NN Vohra, who is the Chairman of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board and Rakesh K Gupta, Chief Executive Officer, visited the Cave Shrine early this morning.
“The Governor prayed for sustained peace, harmony, progress and prosperity in the State. After reviewing the functioning of the Shrine Yatra Camp where, unlike the past Yatras, the snow has still not melted, the Governor visited Panjtarni, Baltal, Sheshnag and NunwanYatra Camps and held review meetings with the officers from Civil, Police, CPO, Army and the District Administrations of Ganderbal and Anantnag districts,” an official spokesman said.
He said the Governor expressed satisfaction over the smooth conduct of this year’s Yatra “despite serious constraints arising from the heavy snowfall in the preceding months.”
The Governor directed the CEO to ensure complete cleaning up of all camp sites and prepare a camp and route-wise Action Plan for Yatra 2015, keeping in view the experiences gained during this year’s pilgrimage.
He stressed that route-wise arrangements of all aspects of the Yatra must be worked out well in advance with particular focus on medicare, sanitation, cleanliness, water and power supply and other facilities and, side by side, ensuring effective protection of environment and ecology of the Yatra area.
“In this context, the Governor is chairing a Post Yatra Review Meeting on 13th August in which over a hundred officers concerned with the management of yatra 2014 will participate,” the spokesman said.
The Governor asked the CEO to immediately launch a full scale post-Yatra sanitation drive, fully involving the Pahalgam and Sonamarg Development Authorities, so that the entire Yatra area is effectively cleaned up in the next few days.
The CEO stated that over 3.72 lakh Yatris paid obeisance at the Cave Shrine during this year’s pilgrimage, which had commenced on 28th June from the Baltal route and on 2nd July from the Pahalgam route.
Meanwhile, RakshaBandhan, the festival that reaffirms the treasured bond of love and care between brothers and sisters, was celebrated today across Jammu and Kashmir with great enthusiasm, reports said.
