J&K: High level meeting reviews preparations for Amarnath Yatra

JJ CORRESPONDENT

Srinagar, Apr 11: A high level meeting was held on Monday to review the preparations for the publicity to be carried out for the upcoming Shri Amarnath Yatra (SANJY) which begins June 30, expecting a record influx of pilgrims this year, an official spokesman said.
He said J&K Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta and Union Secretary, Information and Broadcasting, Apurva Chandra jointly chaired a meeting to review preparations for publicity to be carried out for the Shri Amarnath Yatra to be organized from June 30 to August 11 this year.
The Chief Secretary said that this year’s Yatra is expected to witness a record influx owing to better facilities and seamless journey experience for pilgrims.
“We are expecting around 6-8 lakh yatris and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is fully prepared for it”, he said and added that the administration has already established a transit accommodation for yatris at Ramban which can hold around 3000 pilgrims.
The meeting had detailed deliberations on intensification of information dissemination campaigns throughout the yatra period this year for the convenience of pilgrims.
He said media units of the Union Ministry of I&B in conjunction with the J&K administration would be conducted throughout the period of pilgrimage.
Elucidating the religious significance of Shri Amarnathji Yatra, Chief Secretary remarked that the holy yatra represents the composite culture of J&K.
This historic pilgrimage is always welcomed in the Valley by people who shower their hospitality and generosity on the pilgrims thronging the UT.
Union I&B Secretary said that Amarnath Ji Yatra activities will be projected throughout the country and there will also be focus on coverage of other tourism activities in the region.
“There is a need to highlight achievements of the Centre and UT administration with respect to development projects done in J&K. We need to project such positive stories about the region throughout the country to spread the message of changing environs in the region which will further boost tourist inflow here,” he maintained.
He said that six to eight lakh pilgrims are expected to participate in this year’s yatra.
Shrine Board CEO Nitishwar Kumar urged upon the media units to highlight the advisories for the yatris from time to time adding that Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags will be used this year to keep a track on location of the pilgrims.
The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary, Information Department, Rohit Kansal, Joint Secretary, Union Ministry I&B, Vikram Sahay, CEO, Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board, Nitishwar Kumar, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, P.K Pole, ADGP, Security J&K, Principal Director General (News), All India Radio, N V Reddy, Director General, Doordarshan, Mayank Agrawal, Additional Director General, Press Information Bureau Srinagar, Rajinder Choudhry, Deputy Commissioner Ganderbal, Deputy Commissioner Anantnag and other senior officials both in person and online, he said. UNI