New Delhi: A final security review meeting over Amarnath Yatra at the Home Ministry on Tuesday chalked out the deployment strategy of security forces for the annual pilgrimage carried out in the mountains of Kashmir.
The 62-day-long Amarnath Yatra is scheduled to start on July 1 and end on August 31. Tuesday's meeting was chaired by Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla and was attended by chiefs of central armed police forces including CRPF, BSF, and ITBP. The meeting was also attended by senior officials from the intelligence department, the Army, Jammu & Kashmir administration, and the Amarnath shrine board.
Officials privy to the meeting told ETV Bharat that for the first time, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has been tasked to guard the cave shrine this year and the central reserve police force (CRPF) will be deployed just below the stairs. The meeting finalised the location-wise deployment of the forces.
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"The decision to deploy ITBP was taken following suggestions from J&K Police and Shree Amarnath Shrine Board," officials said. In 2022, 3.45 lakh people visited the cave shrine. The footfall is expected to cross more than 5 lakh this year. The ITBP played a crucial role last year when a flash flood wreaked havoc during the Yatra killing at least 16 people.
Following the flash flood, ITBP was the first force to be deployed and save several lives. To prevent the recurrence of such mishaps, the Indian Air Force and Jammu & Kashmir administration has already started aerial sorties on the upper reaches of the holy cave to check for glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF). "It was also decided in the meeting that ITBP and BSF will be deployed at six different locations which were earlier guarded by CRPF," sources said.
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