Srinagar, July 28: A high-level committee today assessed the facilities available to the yatris on the route to the Amarnath Cave Shrine. The 13-member committee headed by Chief Secretary Madhav Lal took firsthand account of the facilities particularly medical care at the Baltal and Nunwan camps from where the pilgrims start their journey to the holy cave shrine.
A senior official said the team made aerial visit to the holy cave from Baltal. “The panel held a meeting with the camp officers, doctors, officials from civil administration and police at Panchtarni before arriving at Nunwan base camp in Pahalgam,” the official said. He said the team interacted with Yatris and local officials at the two camps and sought their viewpoint on the situation.
The Director General of Police J&K, Additional Director General BSF, Additional Director General CRPF, Principal Secretary Home, Commissioner Secretaries R&B, Health and Forests, and authorities from health department, Deputy Commissioners Ganderbal and Islamabad (Anantnag) and officials from police were part of the team that took review of the facilities.
The Committee would submit its report after discussing the issue with the Governor NN Vohra who is the chairman of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB).
Though 6,05,665 pilgrmis have performed Yatra to the Holy Cave in first 33 days, only 5.08 lakh had secured registration, raising questions on permission to unregistered yatris to go for the pilgrimage.
The SASB Chief Executive Officer, Navin K Choudhary today said in a statement that of 93 Yatirs who have died in Yatra area, 86 lost lives due to medical reasons and seven were killed in accidents.
The state government and the SASB have raised concern on Yatris securing fake medical certificates despite not being physically fit.
They have decided to bring in stricter health certificate mechanism and better awareness on precautions for the difficult pilgrimage.
“There were serious doubts about the validity of the health certificates on which pilgrims had secured yatra permits. More vigorous measures may require to be enforced to prevent the loss of pilgrims’ lives," SASB said earlier in a statement.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 28 Jul 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 28 Jul 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 29 Jul 2012 00:00:00 IST