Page 49 - NIS English 16-31 August 2023

Amarnath Yatra Nation

aba Bafarni Amarnath is a holy Hindu
pilgrimage center located in Pahalgam
Btehsil of Anantnag district of Jammu
and Kashmir. The holy cave in the Sind Valley
is situated at an altitude of 12,756 feet and is
surrounded by glaciers and snowy mountains.
It remains covered with snow for most of
the year except for a brief period during the
summer when it is open to pilgrims. The holy
cave of Amarnath is visited by thousands
of pilgrims every year during the months of
June (Jyeshtha Purnima) to August (Shravan
Purnima). The holy cave is connected by
footpaths from Baltal and Pahalgam side. Then the necessary machinery including
The route to Baltal originates from Domel equipment for construction and maintenance
which is situated at an altitude of 9,580 feet. of roads was brought to the construction site
The route that starts from Domel proceeds using Chinook helicopters of the Indian Air
along the Amaravati river and reaches the Force. The width of the route was increased
holy cave via Rayal Pathri, Barari Marg and from 8 feet to 12 feet by using rock breakers
Kalimata Temple. This road is on a steep and hydraulic rock splitters for smooth
slope. The length of this route till the holy cave movement of devotees. New routes were
is 11.75 km. also constructed at many places to save the
Every year a large number of devotees travel devotees from steep slopes and places prone
through these routes to have a holy 'darshan' to active landslides. BRO also installed 34
of the cave. Last year the yatra was held from kilometer long guardrail for the safety of the
June 30 to August 11, 2022 and a total of 3.60 devotees. Apart from this, eight bridges on
lakh pilgrims participated in it. Till last year, Baltal road and 10 bridges on Chandanwadi
the road towards Baltal was maintained by the road were also repaired by BRO.
R&B department of J&K. On the other hand, To provide shelter to the devotees
the responsibility of Pahalgam route was during monsoon, 25 rain shelters were also
with the Pahalgam Development Authority. constructed on both the routes. Despite all the
In view of BRO's expertise in development challenges and difficulties, the BRO completed
and maintenance of roads in J&K region, in all the scheduled works by 15 June 2023, well
September 2022, the Government of J&K before the commencement of the Yatra. BRO
had decided to hand over the responsibility contingents have been deployed on the routes
of development and maintenance of these to keep the system smooth even during the
routes to BRO. yatra.
BRO took up this onerous responsibility 'Karmayogis' of BRO are feeling extremely
with commitment and completed the work proud and satisfied by completing this task.
well before the commencement of the 2023 Precise planning, determination, sincere
Yatra. The BRO was entrusted with the work efforts, sensible guidelines, efficient execution
of maintenance and repair of existing routes, and conversion of challenges into opportunities
widening of roads, reconstruction of steep resulted in timely and quality completion of
slopes and active landslide-prone stretches. work. The results are in front of the world as
In order to start the infrastructure work on devotees praise the quality of work performed
time, the snow clearance work was started. by the inspired Karmayogis.

New India Samachar August 16-31, 2023 47