KISHTWAR : According to officials, the annual Machail Mata pilgrimage began on Tuesday with hundreds of worshippers visiting the high-altitude temple in the Kishtwar district. Mukesh Singh, the additional director general of police for the Jammu zone, and Devansh Yadav, the deputy commissioner of Kishtwar, paid a visit to the 9705-foot-tall shrine in the picturesque Paddar valley, which is also well-known for its sapphire mining. According to Singh, the deputy commissioner of Kishtwar has increased the number of facilities compared to prior years. These include cell towers, which would improve pilgrims’ connectivity. For the protection of the pilgrims, who are anticipated to arrive in huge numbers from both inside and outside the Union Territory during the 43-day yatra, he said that adequate security procedures are in place along the route.According to officials, the yatra began with a formal “Pratham Pooja” at the shrine honouring the goddess Durga, also known as “Kaali or Chandi.” Yadav stated that “all necessary arrangements are in place to ensure the best experience to the pilgrims who had to walk over 22 kilometres from the base camp established at Gulabgarh to the revered temple.” According to him, the district administration has also assumed charge of building a road at Chishoti, and after it is finished by the first week of August, the track would be cut by about three kilometres.”A private telecom service provider has set up an additional tower to provide better mobile connectivity in the areas adjacent to the shrine, while a 30 KV Solar battery was installed to provide uninterrupted power supply to the shrine and the mobile towers,” the source said. According to him, a ‘yatri bhawan’ was erected at the base camp with the capacity to house 2,000 pilgrims for a fee starting at Rs 10 per person. For the convenience of the yatris, he added, the concerned authorities have been given the task of ensuring sanitation and hygiene in and around the langar places. He claimed that with the start of the yatra from the base camp, the helicopter facility had also begun operating. The introduction of a Micro ATM facility at six important yatra points, including Atholi, Gulabgarh, Kundail, Chishoti, Hamori, and the temple, according to the deputy commissioner, would be a huge relief to both the general public and the faithful, greatly easing financial transactions in up until now underserved banking areas during the Yatra period.
