Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 25: The registration of pilgrims for Shri Amarnathji Yatra will commence on March 1, for both the Baltal and Chandanwari routes.
The registration will be done through 433 designated branches of Punjab National Bank, Jammu & Kashmir Bank and YES Bank located in various States of the country. This year’s Yatra shall commence, simultaneously on both the routes, from June 29 and culminate on August 7.
P K Tripathi, Chief Executive Officer, Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board, said that the step-by-step procedure which the Yatris need to follow to register for the Yatra has been put on the Board’s website www.shriamarnathjishrine.com. The website also contained the application form and State-wise list of Bank Branches (with complete addresses) which the Yatris can visit for registering themselves for this year’s pilgrimage.
The CEO said that the Yatris will have to furnish a Compulsory Health Certificate (CHC) while seeking registration for the Yatra. The format of the CHC and the State-wise list of doctors and Medical Institutes authorized to issue CHCs has been put on the website of the Shrine Board.
For ensuring against fraudulent Health Certificates, only such CHCs as are issued by Doctors or Medical Institutes authorized by the concerned State Governments/ UTs Administrations shall be accepted at the registering Bank branches. For Yatra 2017, only those Health Certificates which have been issued after February 10 this year shall be considered valid.
Persons under the age of 13 years or above the age of 75 years and women who are more than six weeks pregnant will not be registered for this year’s Yatra.
Yatra Permits for the annual Yatra shall be in different colours for each day of the week/ and route, with a different colour coding for each day, to facilitate the police personnel deployed at the Access Control Gates (at Baltal and Chandanwari) to regulate the Yatra for the relevant date and route.
The CEO cautioned the intending Yatris against undertaking this arduous Yatra without securing a Yatra Permit and the required Health Certificate. He stressed that, for ensuring effective security arrangements along the difficult tracks, only those Yatris who are in possession of a Yatra Permit which is valid for a specified date and route shall be allowed to proceed beyond the base camps, and cross the Entry Gates at Domel and Chandanwari.
He appealed to all intending Yatris to complete the necessary formalities for registration in advance and timely obtain a Yatra Permit in their own interest, so that they do not face any inconvenience when they embark on their Yatra.
Yatris who propose to travel by helicopter do not require advance registration as their Helicopter ticket shall suffice for this purpose. However, they shall require to produce the Compulsory Health Certificate, in the prescribed format, which has been issued by an authorized State Government doctor, before they are allowed to travel by helicopter.
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