NGT orders on Amarnath yatra draw flak

Amir Karim Tantray

Tribune News Service

Jammu, December 17

That the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had to withdraw its directive of declaring the Amarnath cave shrine a silent zone draws attention to the fact that its observations were not without flaws. The people in Jammu and elsewhere are outraged at what they term “interference” in the matter of faith by the NGT.

Jammu’s political and religious groups are angry over this. So much so that National Conference’s provincial president Devender Singh Rana has minced no words in calling it an “intrusion into the faith of the Hindus”. He has urged Governor NN Vohra, who is the chairman of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, to take up the matter strongly with the NGT and get all hindrances in the pilgrims’ progress removed.

The pilgrimage attracts three to four lakh people every year. They come from all parts of the country and brave forbidding Himalayan heights and vagaries of weather to climb up to the shrine. “Every year, I make a journey up to the shrine and there is improvement in the facilities, arrangements and protection from antisocial elements,” said Prince Khajuria, a regular visitor to the shrine. “Yes, we have to do the registration, undergo a medical test and wait for our turn to visit the shrine but it is all for our benefit and safety,” Khajuria added.

This Himalayan pilgrimage symbolises too many things at once - a journey of faith passing through forbidding mountainous heights, showcase of communal harmony, enriching the local economy and above all, renewing the consciousness of preserving the ecology and environment of the place. Currently, with terrorist violence being a grim reality of Kashmir, preserving these symbols in practice pose a challenge that has to be surmounted in real terms 24x7.

Before the NGT voiced concern over the environmental and ecological issues, it is important to know what all had been done and is being done to save the fragile environment. Helicopters do not land anywhere close to the cave area. The landing and take-off points are at Panchtarni which is six km below the shrine. The rest of the trek is to be covered by foot or on palanquins or ponies.

The biggest attraction to the pilgrims at the shrine is the Shiva Lingam — a naturally made conical shaped stalagmite — regarded as an icon of Lord Shiva. This natural phenomenon is deeply connected to the environment and climate change. Its height and longevity depend on the weather. Scientifically speaking, the Shiva Lingam takes shape because of heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures in the area. It stays as long as there is no intervention of the human heat. When temperatures rise, the Lingam starts melting and the human heat of the pilgrims accelerates the melting process.