J&K Administration Conducts Trial Run For Security Check Ahead Of Amarnath Yatra

Additional Director General of Police Mukesh Singh led the convoy of security vehicles accompanied by senior officials and conducted the trial run along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway

Security personnel stand guard at Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas base camp ahead of the Amarnath Yatra, in Jammu ( Image Source :PTI )

The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Wednesday conducted a trial run from Jammu to Banihal for a thorough inspection of security and other arrangements to ensure a safe pilgrimage for the devotees of Amarnath Yatra. The security inspection comes just two days ahead of the pilgrimage. Additional Director General of Police Mukesh Singh led the convoy of security vehicles accompanied by senior officials and conducted the trial run along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, reported news agency PTI.  

All the arrangements made by Jammu, Udhampur, and Ramban district administrations for the pilgrimage were examined by senior civil and police officers in charge of the Jammu division. 

"The trial run was conducted by the security establishment from Jammu to Banihal on the highway for a thorough inspection of security and other arrangements", an officer said, as per the report. 

Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha virtually inaugurated DRDO hospitals in Baltal and Chandanwari equipped with 100 beds ahead of the pilgrimage, as per news agency ANI. 

The 62-day-long pilgrimage to the cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas will commence on July 1 and conclude on August 31. Pilgrims will embark on the yatra via two routes — the traditional 48-kilometre Nunwan route, in south Kashmir's Pahalgam, and the shorter 14-kilometre Baltal route in central Kashmir's Ganderbal.

On Friday, the first batch of pilgrims will depart from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu. They will travel on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway before reaching their designated base camps in Pahalgam and Baltal.

To ensure the utmost convenience of the pilgrims, the administration has planned that transit camps would accommodate the devotees in the event of inclement weather necessitating the closure of the highway, officials said, adding steps have been taken to ensure landslide debris are cleared promptly expediting the reopening of the highway, the report stated.