CS chairs 14th HLC meet of SASB, Directs finalising arrangements ahead of commencement of yatra

Jammu : Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo, on Monday impressed upon all the line departments including the Shrine Board to ensure all arrangements are made well before commencement of the annual AmarnathJi yatra this year.
The Chief Secretary issued these directions while chairing the 14th High Level Committee (HLC) meeting of Shri AmarnathJi Shrine Board (SASB).
Present in the meeting were the senior officers of civil administration and security establishments.
The Chief Secretary urged upon all the departments including PWD, PDD, Jal Shakti, RDD, H&UDD, BRO, Telecommunication and others to complete the necessary tendering and other contract related processes in the upcoming month itself. He called upon them to make procurements so that there is no end-time rush in finalizing the requisite arrangements.
The Chief Secretary stressed on the Deputy Commissioners of Anantnag and Ganderbal to ensure marking of the disaster prone areas on both the routes so that no utilities including tents are pitched in such areas. He directed the DMRR&R department to coordinate with the concerned district administrations regarding framing of SoPs for ensuring safe yatra for the pilgrims.
He asked the concerned Deputy Commissioners to facilitate all the service providers so that the facilities created at each location are appropriate and sufficient for both the devotees and facilitators. He advised them to work in coordination and use the work window efficiently so that every facility is made ready by June this year.
He enquired from each department and Deputy Commissioner about their role and responsibilities. He stressed on designating a nodal officer by each department to look after finalisation of arrangements to be made for smooth conduct of the pilgrimage.
The Chief Secretary also took stock of the budget requirements of all the departments to carry out the necessary works and procurements to be made for yatra. He asked the PDD for completing the job of under-grounding the HT/LT lines and anti-freezing pipeline system by the Jal Shakti Department. He also emphasised upon them to make a traffic plan so that there are no traffic snarls and people do not face any hurdles while commuting. He enjoined upon the Police Department to deploy their personnel in sufficient numbers for facilitating the yatra.
Other issued which came up for discussion was deployment of adequate manpower by the Health Department for making the base hospitals functional besides other health facilities enroute. He further asked them to initiate the process of inviting manpower from outside as per the practice in vogue.
The need for ensuring only RFID registered pilgrims having valid health certificates was discussed during the meeting. It was also enjoined upon the IMD to send daily weather updates to the registered pilgrims so that they can move accordingly.
Besides, proper sanitation by RDD and H&UDD in their respective areas was deliberated upon. Both the departments were advised to ensure requisite number of toilets/baths are established enroute the cave shrine besides availability of uninterrupted water supply and paraphernalia there. They were directed to install the dustbins and deployment of manpower for cleanliness purposes all across the transit camps, holding areas and along the track.
The departments like FCS&CA, Transport, Information, IT, Forest, BSNL and others were impressed upon to carry out their routine works as per the past practice enhancing the capacity wherever required with proper back-up plans in place. He termed their contribution as crucial for conduct of the yatra.
The Chief Secretary further directed the concerned to ensure that installation of lights, water tanks, toilets, back-up generators, Public Address System, communication towers is ensured at each camp location before commencement of the yatra.
CEO SASB, Dr Mandeep Kumar Bhandari, informed the meeting about the past arrangements made by the departments and the scope for improvements. He gave out the details of works carried out after the culmination of yatra-2024.
Bhandari also highlighted the works to be undertaken by BRO for upgradation of yatra tracks besides for availability of reliable power and water supply to the devotees. He informed about the disaster management mitigation measures, prepaid hiring system, holding capacity of camps, registration of labour and pony besides other requirements for successful conduct of yatra this year.
The divisional administrations assured that foolproof arrangements would be made. They informed that power and water supply, health facilities, installation of toilets/baths, telephone, ration, fire fighting equipment, firewood, shelter sheds, helipads, mobile connectivity, langar, tents and SDRF/NDRF personnel deployment would be done at each spot identified for the purpose.
They informed the meeting that every facility required for the event would be created as per the standard practice besides taking all measures as per the directions given in this meeting.