The Government will shortly reopen all tourist destinations which were closed in the wake of April 22 Pahalgam terror attack after taking adequate security measures for which a security review meeting to be chaired by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha will be held shortly.
Officials told the Excelsior that more tourist sites across the Kashmir valley will reopen in phases to give boom to the tourism which suffered setback following Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 civilians including 25 tourists and a local were killed but has started recovering gradually.
After Pahalgam attack, some tourist destinations were closed. While few of them have reopened, others are awaiting security nod.
As per the officials, a security review meeting is proposed to be held shortly which will be chaired by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to ensure foolproof security infrastructure at all tourist destinations to attract the tourists.
“The tourist spots which were closed earlier will be reopened in a phased manner,’’ they said, adding this will attract the tourists to the Valley.
Union Minister for Tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has twice visited Kashmir in the recent past. A number of Parliamentary Standing Committees (PSCs) have also visited Jammu and Kashmir to send a message of peace in the Valley. Tourism Secretaries of different Union Territories also met in Pahalgam for two days and their meeting was addressed among others by Shekhawat and Manoj Sinha.
Meanwhile, as per the officials, annual pilgrimage of Shri Amarnath Ji, also got a boost following outreach by the Shrine Board.
Sources said the registrations dipped initially but the Shrine Board contacted those registered before April 22 via SMS assuring them of adequate security arrangements for undertaking pilgrimage.
“The outreach worked and over 85,000 of those pilgrims have turned up so far for the pilgrimage,’’ they added.
It may be mentioned here that Shri Amarnath Ji pilgrimage crossed two lakh today.
This year the pilgrimage will last only 38 days which is less as compared to previous years but the response has been very encouraging as the yatra crossed two lakh within 10 days.
The pilgrimage to Shri Amarnath Ji shrine in South Kashmir Himalayas started on July 3 and will conclude on August 9 coinciding with Shravan Purnima and Raksha Bandhan. Pilgrims are being provided three-tier security apparatus and other necessary facilities. The yatris are overwhelmed by arrangements made by Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) and the administration for them. The pilgrims reaching unregistered here are being registered at the registration counters set up for them.
Over 4 lakh people have so far registered themselves for the pilgrimage and on an average 18,000 to 20,000 yatris are paying obeisance to holy Ice Lingam of Lord Shiva in the cave shrine located at 12,700 feet from sea level in South Kashmir Himalayas daily.
And, there has been no let up in the numbers with yatris in thousands reaching Jammu daily for onward journey to the cave shrine. Daily Excelsior
