Massive security deployment, along with other necessary arrangements, will be made for the Amarnath Yatra, resuming this year after a two year gap because of Covid, top security officials said on Friday.According to the sources, the Jammu and Kashmir administration has been asked to make necessary arrangements for over seven lakh pilgrims which will be an all-time high.Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla and Intelligence Bureau Chief Arvind Kumar, who, along with top officials of the Home Ministry reached Srinagar on Thursday on a two-day visit, reviewed the preparedness with the J&K administration on Friday.The Centre wants to pull up all the stops to make this pilgrimage a complete success and the J&K administration has been assured of all possible support from the centre, sources in the know of developments said.
They also said that initially the CRPF have been asked to deploy 100 companies as of now and they have also been asked to spare 50 companies to be deployed in May.On Thursday, Bhalla held a meeting with Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbag Singh and other officials of the J&K administration, as well as the Amarnath Shrine Board, to see that all necessary arrangements for the pilgrimage are put in place before its commencement on June 30.The J&K DGP also made a presentation on the proposed security arrangements.The Directors General of the Central Reserve Police Force and the Border Security force and Army officials were also present in the meeting and they were briefed about the deployment.
The sources also said that considering the expected number of pilgrims this year, the J&K administration has asked for 300 companies of central security forces which will be made available to them in phased manner before the commencement of Yatra .The sources also said that some special security features such as giving RFID tag to all vehicles during the pilgrimage while using drones for detailed surveillance of the route from point of origin to the cave shrine. The drones will be playing a dual role as they will helping the officials in regulating the crowd.On Friday, the Union Home Secretary also held a meeting with the senior Army officials.The BSF and Army have been asked to keep high surveillance on the International Border and Line of Control and make all efforts to prevent infiltrations.