Amit Shah reviews preparations for Amarnath yatra

New Delhi, June 9

Union Home Minister Amit Shah today chaired a high-level review meeting to assess the preparedness for the smooth conduct of the upcoming Amarnath pilgrimage in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

The 62-day-long annual pilgrimage to the cave shrine of Amarnath, located at a height of 3,880m in the Himalayas of south Kashmir, will begin on July 1 and continue till August 31.

The officials said J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Army’s Northern Command chief Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, Intelligence Bureau Director Tapan Deka were among the top functionaries who attended the meeting.

Sources in the security establishment said there are intelligence inputs that Pakistan-based terrorist groups might try to disrupt the pilgrimage and therefore all stakeholders of the pilgrimage have taken part in the meeting and all issues relating to arrangements being made have been discussed.

Later in a statement, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs said the Home Minister directed the officials to make sure that Amarnath pilgrims should have comfortable ‘darshan’. Five lakh devotees are expected to visit the shrine this year.