As the Amarnath yatra approaches, the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board authorities are working to ensure the safety and security of pilgrims, while also prioritizing the protection of the ecologically fragile region. One of the measures taken to achieve this goal is the approval granted to numerous organizations to set up community kitchens along the yatra route, including base camps and the cave shrine area of Amarnath. These kitchens will serve over one lakh meals to pilgrims, security personnel, and sanitation workers, focusing on serving healthy and nutritious food.
The Shrine Board has also issued an advisory to pilgrims, cautioning them against serving junk or oily food items. Langar committees have stocked their ration supplies at base camps and receive regular supplies with the help of ponywalas and porters deployed along the route. To ensure the cleanliness of the area, the Rural Development department has made elaborate arrangements in and around the base camps. Camp directors have been directed to make arrangements to protect the environment in the region, and the working hours have been divided into three shifts to ensure proper sanitation facilities and cleanliness.
The department has provided stationary and movable toilets, and more than 200 dustbins have been provided for garbage collection and segregation. The department has also engaged different agencies for sanitation services, including the cleaning of toilets and baths at Neelgrath helipad and on the Baltal/Pahalgam axis. The management of sewage treatment plants and the cleaning of camps at Nunwan, Chandanwari, Sheshnag, and Langar sites have also been handed over to service providers.
Amarnath yatra
To preserve the ecology of the region, arrangements have been made to treat liquid and solid waste generated during the yatra. Liquid waste will be treated in systems such as retention ponds/lagoons to remove FOG, suspended solid waste, and other elements responsible for increasing the BOD level, before being finally drained to the adjoining soakage pits. The sewerage system at the Holy Cave has been upgraded by way of construction of manholes and laying of sewer lines, and the same has been done at Panjtarni Camp as well.
In Jammu, sanitation workers have been deployed by the Jammu Municipal Corporation for waste collection and sweeping, cleaning of toilets, urinal, and bathrooms, secondary transportation, and wastewater management. The measures taken by the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board authorities demonstrate a commitment to protecting the environment in the region, ensuring that the sacred Amarnath yatra is conducted in a way that minimizes harm to the environment.
