NEW DELHI : Union Home Minister Amit Shah will preside over a high-level conference on Friday to assess the security and preparations for the impending Amarnath pilgrimage in Jammu and Kashmir.The 62-day annual pilgrimage to the sacred cave shrine of Amarnath, which is located in the south Kashmir Himalayas at a height of 3,880 metres, will start on July 1 and go until August 31. With senior members of the central government and the administration in Jammu and Kashmir, the Home minister would discuss the preparations for the Amarnath pilgrimage, sources.According to them, Shah would also evaluate the strategies being developed to guarantee a successful pilgrimage. The sources claim that there have been intelligence reports that the terror groups operating out of Pakistan may attempt to obstruct the pilgrimage, for which sufficient security troops will be deployed. All parties involved in the pilgrimage are anticipated to attend the conference, where all concerns regarding the preparations for it will be discussed. The Border Roads Organisation has been tasked with clearing the snow by June 15 due to the fact that there is a lot of snow along the paths from Baltal and Pahalgam going to the holy cave.The holy cave was visited by 3.45 lakh people a year ago, and this year that number may reach 5 lakh. According to the sources, the National Disaster Response Force has begun identifying prime locations for setting up pilgrim camps keeping in mind any potential unforeseen natural disaster in order to prevent any incident similar to last year’s when 16 people were killed after flash floods triggered by heavy rain near the shrine. Helicopters from the Indian Air Force are anticipated to be stationed in the upper reaches of the sacred cave to conduct overhead sorties in search of glacial activity and the development of lakes that could result in flash floods below.
