Administration, security agencies conduct 2-day mock drill ahead of Amarnath Yatra

The exercise was conducted to assess the overall preparedness and response measures taken at critical sites to deal with any untoward incident by all the concerned government and private agencies on both the routes of Amarnath Yatra from Sonamarg to the holy cave shrine and Pahalgam to Chandanwari route.

Srinagar: Ahead of the commencement of the annual Amarnath Yatra on June 30, a two-day mock drill was conducted by the Jammu and Kashmir Department of Disaster Management in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority and District Disaster Management Authorities on June 22 and 23. The exercise was conducted to assess the overall preparedness and response measures taken at critical sites to deal with any untoward incident by all the concerned Government and private agencies on both the routes of Amarnath Yatra from Sonamarg to the holy cave shrine and Pahalgam to Chandanwari route.

Amarnath Yatra is scheduled to start on the 30th of June and conclude on the 11th of August, 2022. Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain, Member National Disaster Management Authority, and Nazim Zai Khan, Secretary DMRRR were present during the mock drill. At Baltal the mock drill was attended by Major General VK Naik; Shyambir, Deputy Commissioner, Ganderbal, along with Brigadier BK Thakar from NDMA.

From the Pahalgam route, Major General Sudhir Bahl from NDMA, Dr. Piyush Singhla, Deputy Commissioner Anantnag, Suraj Rukwal, Special Secretary DDMRRR was present. Besides other senior and middle-level officers/officials from National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Rashtriya Rifles, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Army, Police, Health Dept, Civil Defence, Transport, Fire & Emergency Services, and other emergency services attended the mock exercises.