The 40-day yatra to the Amarnath Cave Shrine at an altitude of 3,880 metre in the south Kashmir Himalayas has been started from the first day of Sawan month. The 46-day annual yatra will conclude on Raksha Bandhan. The annual pilgrimage of Amarnath cave shrine in Jammu and Kashmir has begun with over 1.5 lakh pilgrims from across the country. Yatra will take place from the traditional 36-km Pahalgam track in Anantnag district and 14-km Baltal route in Ganderbal district.
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Security for the Amarnath Cave have become the prime concern for the national leaders after 2017 militant attack. The attack on the Yatra had left seven pilgrims dead and 19 injured. Hence, the Army, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Jammu and Kashmir Police have been tasked with providing security to the pilgrims.
Hi- tech Security For the Pilgrims
A multi-tier security arrangement has been planned for the yatra 2019, Each Yatra vehicle will be fitted with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag which will remain under the radars connected with respective control rooms, and no such vehicle will be allowed to cross a particular point after the cut-off timing.
Besides the security deployment on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway and Yatra routes, stationing personnel in sensitive areas and quick reaction teams (of police and CRPF), mobile vehicle check posts along with technical monitoring, including through drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), are all part of the comprehensive security plan.
Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) has provided every pilgrim with barcodes which will be connected with towers set up at multiple locations along the Yatra route. Also, the barricades will be erected on the highways soon after the cut-off timing for the movement of security forces’ convoys and pilgrims.
To further strengthen the security apparatus, the shrine board has put in place a yatri management system through which we can track the location of each and every pilgrim. UAVs and drones along with CCTV cameras are being used for the security of yatris.