SRINAGAR: Pilgrims trekking to the holy Amarnath cave in Kashmir Himalayas will be insured against accidents from this year, the shrine authorities have said.
The decision comes after the pilgrimage witnessed a large number of deaths in 2012. More than a hundred pilgrims died last year in road mishaps and also by falling sick while on the track leading to the cave, which passes through ice-fed streams and glaciers.
A spokesman for the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB), which manages the shrine, said all pilgrims possessing valid registration will be provided an insurance cover of Rs. 1 lakh. He said the insurance will cover “accidental deaths within the state during the period of the Yatra 2013”.
This has been done on the instructions of the state’s governor, NN Vohra, who is the ex-officio Chairman of SASB, he said.
The Amarnath Yatra, one of the holiest pilgrimages for Hindus of the country, will begin on June 8 and will last 55 days before concluding on Raksha Bandhan festival which falls on Aug 21.
Last year, the pilgrimage was allowed only for 39 days, a move which earned the shrine management anger of right-wing Hindu parties, who accused the board of “curbing religious freedom”.
The insurance cover will be available to all registered pilgrims from one week before the Yatra begins to one week after it concludes, the spokesman said.
“The insurance will cover any accidental death which takes place anywhere in the State while travelling onward to the Yatra Base Camps as well as while moving on the Yatra tracks,” said Navin K. Choudhary, Chief Executive Officer of SASB in a statement.
“We request all pilgrims in their own interest not to embark on the Yatra without obtaining valid registration after securing a Compulsory Health Certificate,” he said.
