Ever since takeover of Shri Mata Vaisho Devi Shrine by Board development of track and Bhawan has been ever evolving with continuous efforts to make the journey of yatris remarkable and memorable. With proper road, train and railway connectivity, pilgrims from few lakhs have now surpassed crore mark and ever increasing. Bhawan itself has seen tremendous developments and changes, from a few blocks to now scores of proper facilities for thousands of pilgrims, ultra modern washing machines for blankets and beddings, multiple locker rooms to name a few. Main old entrance of Bhawan has been gold plated, adding much glitter to Mata Ka Darbar. The track itself has undergone massive transformation, from stone track to now well maintained colorful track lit with solar lights, a separate new track from Adhkuwari to Bhawan, battery operated vehicles, toilet/restrooms, RO filtered drinking water all along the path just eases the difficult 12 km track journey to some extent. Helicopter services available from base Katra to Sanjhichat with priority slips for air travelers. All ticket bookings of helicopter as well as Bhavan accommodations are made online to stop corrupt practices and favoritism. Even donations and prasad are available online now. Live telecast of main Bhawan Aarti is life line of many bhakts. Separate in and out tunnels now operative along with old cave entrance with a purpose to reduce waiting period and ease of darshans. Ropeway from Bhawan to Bhairon Ghati is itself a lifetime experience which pilgrims remember forever. Along with this establishment of SMVDU university, main event organising destination of Jammu and Multi Speciality Hospital at Kakryal, providing much needed health support infra, are other development achievements over the years. Even pony and palkiwallas have been benefited with insurance of ponies, restroom for pithoos with medical checkup facilities.
Safety and comfort of pilgrims is always priority but some unpleasant incidents do happen like helicopter crash after takeoff from Katra few years back and stampede at Bhawan this year itself. New security measures have been proposed like mandatory RFID tags, installation of 500 CCTV cameras to be installed to monitor pilgrim movement, in house locker room and bathing facilities to avoid unnecessary, extra, avoidable movement of pilgrims, augmenting holding capacity at Bhawan, strengthening of stone shooting portion of track is also proposed. Construction of passenger ropeway between Tarakote Langar and Sanjichhat has been approved to make tough uphill journey comfortable. New Aarti Darshan Policy is approved. More new Bhawans are under construction and many more are in pipeline. Jammu to Katra helicopter service is also under consideration. To avoid registration counter rush new counters are proposed. Schemes for retired Baridars and their families have also been proposed like marriage fund and scholarships. Various other initiatives have been put to divert these pilgrims to adjoining pilgrim sites like Shiv Khori which is also being developed.
All said and done, there is always scope of improvement. Ultra modern bus/taxi stand with best facilities should be developed in the outskirts of Katra. No entry of heavy vehicles in the city during day time and only electric or CNG operated vehicles should be allowed to operate in city. Development of a park on the pattern of Mysore or Pinjore should be incorporated to make stay of waiting pilgrims pleasant and worth memory during peak rush hours. Fixation of room tariff is a must now keeping in view of overcharging allegations. Police all along the track with proper ultra modern equipments has to be stationed to avoid another stampede. All VVIP tours must be avoided especially during Navratras as Bhawan is a limited space pilgrim site with no provision of holding pilgrims for long. Medical facilities have to improve drastically as human life is invaluable. All efforts of LG to personally monitor the things are much appreciated, all these will go a long way to improve things.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
