With scars of the New Year tragedy at the holy cave shrine of Goddess Vaishno Devi that 12 lives still fresh in mind, the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) is in no mood to take the risk this time as it has decided to keep all time surveillance on the movement of Yatris through 500 CCTV cameras.
Enforcement teams of the SMVDSB will be deployed for four days at the Bhawan from December 30 to January 2 to keep an eye on the number of pilgrims to avoid crowding and regulate the number of devotees.
These four days pilgrims who have valid accommodation slips will only be allowed to stay at the Bhawan. It will be the duty of the dedicated teams to make sure that devotees immediately return to the base camp Katra after having 'Darshan' at the holy cave.
Reports said that various measures have been put in place and proactive steps have been taken for smooth regulation of the expected influx of pilgrims likely to visit in large numbers from various parts of the country and abroad to visit the holy cave shrine on the onset of the new year.
No entry without an RFID card
As reported earlier, the Board has also decided that security agencies would not allow any pilgrims without a valid Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) card at the onset of New Year, besides there would be separate entry and exit routes at Bhawan that witnessed the first-ever stampede during the intervening night of December 31, 2021, and January 1, 2022.
The RFID-based yatra registration cards have been started with the focus to enhance not only the security but also ensure real-time tracking of pilgrims on the track enroute Bhawan for better regulation of the pilgrims in accordance with the holding capacity of the trek and the shrine area (Bhawan).
Authorities have directed the security agencies not to allow any pilgrims without a valid RFID card for which additional handheld scanners may be put to use with sufficient staff to plug any shortfall.
Yatris are being regularly informed through an announcement to register under RFID-based Registration Card through Shrine Board Registration Counters only before the start of their pilgrimage and if any pilgrim found without RFID cards.
Those pilgrims registered under RFID not returning their card after completion of Yatra would be charged a fine of Rs 100 as deterrence.
Mask mandatory for devotees
The Board has made it mandatory for all pilgrims attending the Atka Arti and in the darshan, queue to wear face masks in view of the surge of Covid cases in certain parts of the country.
The Board has also issued guidelines for strict adherence to the COVID-19 guidelines as a precautionary measure.
On the concern about COVID-19, the official said all the stakeholders have been advised to wear masks while dealing with the Yatris.
Notably, 12 pilgrims died and thirteen were injured following a stampede at the Shrine on January 1. That was the first such incident at the Shrine. At the time of the incident, about 50,000 devotees were gathered on the eve of the new year. It is believed that cause of the stampede was a huge rush of devotees at Bhawan.
