Sir,
Barring some minor incidents, the annual Amarnath Yatra passed off peacefully this year. Though there was sharp decline almost 50 percent in number of yatris as compared to last year, almost 3.5 lakh devotees visited the sacred shrine located at a height of 14500 ft among the Himalayas. The credit for smooth yatra goes to Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board allied agencies, para medical staff and above all security forces who provided security cover right from Jammu upto the shrine.
Besides, it was also a matter of satisfaction that the number of pilgrims who died during course of pilgrimage came down from 93 to 13 this year.
Despite so many precautions taken by the Government, there are several aspects that need to be taken into consideration. There are complaints from pilgrims about ponywallas and transporters. There were reports that ponywallas sometimes misbehaved with the yatris over rates. At times they were charged more than what has been notified by the concerned authorities.
Besides, the yatra did not get controversial as was the last year. Let’s us hope, the yatra bridges the gap between people of different religious denominations in the coming times.
Yours etc……
Ramesh Khajuria
Bakshi Nagar, Jammu
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