Gautam Sen
The annual pilgrimage to the holy cave having the snow-capped Shivlinga at Amarnath in Anantnag district of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) popularly known as Amarnath Jatra, is to start shortly. The Yatra starts from the auspicious occasion of Skanda Sashti on 30th June, 2022 and will end on 11th August, 2022, the day of Shravan Purnima Raksha Bandhan. In the earlier days, particularly since the mid-1980s, the Yatra, was a localized affair and managed basically by Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) State Government. The pilgrimmage has subsequently become a much more expansive affair requiring a huge arrangement of Governmental financial resources, logistics and security. Handling these arrangements have been a strenuous and sensitive affair for the state – now the J&K Union Territory (UT) Governments. In the present COVID times, notwithstanding the intensity of the earlier spells of COVID being relatively less now, public heath still remains a major concern. The environmental impact of the trek of a large mass of devotees and support personnel and locals up from the base camp at Pahalgam to the Shivlinga at Amarnath cave, is undeniable. The difficulties of the trek are more from the Baltal to the shrine as compared from Pahalgam. Past experience and need for instituting controls is evident from the present government guidelines permitting the trekking journey for the pilgrims up to the age of 70 years as against 75 years earlier.
The pilgrimage to the Shivlingam, at a height of 12756 feet above sea level in Lidder Valley, is quite an arduous endeavour. Notwithstanding this constraint, a sense of devotion and spirit of religiosity draws a large number of people of Hindu faith not only from J&K, but also different parts of northern, western and central India. In some sections of people, an added religious fervor has been imparted in the current political milieu to emphasise religious symbolism and that, J&K is not bereft of its Hindu identity. Despite the above, there is a need in public interest to regulate the pilgrimage and provide healthy and safe conditions during the trek to the holy shrine. Thus, it may be appropriate to enable the pilgrimage on a moderate scale with assured safeguards pertinent to health and security attributes of the pilgrims and also the local populace along the routes and their periphery.
As per latest information from locals and in the public domain, the preparation and upgradation of the trekking route, leaves much to be desired. The state public works department (PWD) was allocated Rs. 18 crore for improving the trekking route and erecting the shelters alongside in a properly spaced out manner. There are reports of the shelters being bunched up in the initial 10 kms stretch and being of inadequate quality. These are worrisome developments and seems the result of the UT administration`s failure to exercise proper control and oversight on the execution of the work.
While the Union Government is committed to the fullest extent to support this mega event from various considerations, the organizational lacuna seems to be at Srinagar. A more decentralized arrangement may have been more appropriate. While the Divisional Commissioner, Srinagar, is carrying out his reviews, the line departments of the UT do not seem to be playing up. The trekking route is much below the quality and specifications stipulated for it. For example, as against 12 feet width indicated as a public safety requirement after appraisal by the Supreme Court of India, the trekking path, at places is hardly four to five feet. The camps for the pilgrims to halt enroute, are also reported of inadequate quality and been positioned in a manner which does not cover the entire route from Pahalgam to Sheshnag in a well-dispersed manner. Quality of the camps seem to be an issue also. While the UT Government is seized of these shortcomings based on inputs and spot assessments of professionals external to the UT Government, it is time that the Amarnath Yatra organization and management is given a new orientation.
It may be worthwhile to recall the views of the Supreme Court on its own motion vs Union of India & Ors on 13-12-2012 by a Bench consisting of Justices B. S. Chauhan and Swatanter Kumar, on persistent reports, press reports on poor arrangements concerning the Yatra in 2012, wherein the Court made clear that the trekking passage width shall not be less than 12 feet, particularly of the track leading from Panchtarni to the Holy Amarnath shrine. The UT administration should ensure that there is no compromise in this regard, in the interest of the Yatra and the devotees who will be paying their obeisance to Lord Shiva and His consort, Parvati.
(The author is a retired Civil Service Officer who has served in J&K)
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