Above: Pilgrims waiting to undertake the holy Amarnath cave shrine Yatra. Photo: UNI

The National Green Tribunal on Wednesday (December 13) declared the Amarnath temple area from stairs to the holy cave as silence zone, thereby banning chanting of mantras and slogans in this area. The bench headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar and comprising Justice U D Salvi and expert member Dr. Nagin Nanda said that there will be no ringing of bells in the cave area nor will any devotee be allowed to carry prasad, mobile or any other article beyond frisking point.

The Tribunal asked the board to strictly follow its rules calling for maintaining a single queue of pilgrims while walking towards the main cave. The green court said that locker facility should be provided to the pilgrims so that they can keep their belongings safe. The new directions come after the NGT had rapped the Amarnath Shrine Board for not providing adequate infrastructure facilities to the pilgrims.

The Tribunal had earlier asked the board to consider declaring the cave temple area as silence zone so as to prevent avalanches and to prohibit religious offerings inside the cave to maintain its pristine nature.

In the last hearing, the Amarnath Shrine Board had submitted that it will hold a meeting on December 8 and the report shall be submitted thereafter. The counsel appearing on behalf of the Board submitted the status report to the Tribunal. However, counsel appearing on behalf of the Vaishno Devi Board asked for further time. The bench granted the board two weeks time to submit the report.

The Amarnath Shrine Board, in the previous hearing had said that it will also request the state government officials to submit what steps have they taken. The Vaishno Devi Shrine Board was asked to submit the latest rehabilitation scheme along with the status report with regard to compliance issued by the green panel.

—India Legal Bureau