Above: Pilgrims riding on a marshy height at Domail on Baltal-Amarnath track to have darshan of self made Ice Shivlingam in the holy cave shrine (file picture). Photo: UNI

A pilgrimage to the Amarnath temple, especially at a time when the ‘Shivling’ has formed of ice, has had its share of horrible accidents, plus disasters in terrorist attacks (Anantnag). The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has now found that the journey, undertaken by many pious Hindus every year, has to be gone through via places which are lacking in facilities.

On Wednesday (November 15) the NGT came down heavily on the Amarnath Shrine Board for failing to provide adequate infrastructure facilities to pilgrims. The tribunal, which also seeks the implementation of the 2012 Supreme Court directive to improve infrastructure to reduce casualties during pilgrimage, said that the board must submit a status report in the first week of December.

It has also asked the board th show in which ways has it adhered to the top court’s directives.

The green bench has not rested in issuing directives. On Wednesday it formed a committee of experts, headed by Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The committee’s job is to recommend an action plan to the board.

While the recommendations and requirements should include things as basic as a properly constructed path, it also looks at facilities along the way, such as toilets, especially for women, medical facilities, as well as cleanliness in areas around the shrine.

The NGT has been trying to rationalise the flow of pilgrims to several sites, especially in the hills, to increase safety. It has already said that only 50,000 pilgrims can travel to Vaishno Devi in J& K in a day. That will prevent accidents.

The bench, headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar, has called for a path exclusively for pedestrians and fines for littering.

—India Legal Bureau