Kheer Bhawani Temple, Amarnath Yatra get loaded security

The first immediate challenge for Jammu and Kashmir Governor NN Vohra is to ensure a smooth and peaceful Amarnath Yatra. This year, the annual pilgrimage to the cave shrine will start on Jyestha Purnima which falls on June 28. The 60-day pilgrimage will conclude on Shravan Purnima (Raksha Bandhan) i.e. August 26.

More than 24,000 troops of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) and Jammu and Kashmir Police will be deployed for the yatra this year. Official figures say 213 companies of CAPF will be deployed this year, as against the 181 companies in 2017.

Meanwhile, thousands of Kashmiri pandits started arriving Tuesday from Jammu, Delhi and other parts of the country for the one-day mela at the Kheer Bhawani temple at Tulmulla in central Kashmir's Ganderbal district on Wednesday.

Hundreds of security forces have been deployed to ensure security of the pilgrims. Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), which had called the strike on Wednesday against the killings of youth and Rising Kashmir editor-in chief Shujaat Bukhari, has deferred strike to Thursday as a goodwill gesture.

Deputy Inspector General of Police (Central Kashmir range) VK Birdhi told DNA that elaborate security arrangements have been made by the district police. "They have been instructed to take care of routes leading to the place," he said, adding, "The traffic police has issued separate arrangements for mela."

For the Amarnath Yatra, 32 companies of Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police (JKAP) and Indian Reserve Police (IRP) will also be deployed; last year, 23 companies of JKAP and IRP were deployed for yatra duties. Besides, the Indian Army will sanitize the upper reaches and dominate the heights to ensure smooth and peaceful pilgrimage.

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags will be installed on vehicles carrying pilgrims as part of a pilot project to track their movement enroute to the shrine. CCTV cameras are being installed at base camps and other important places on the pilgrimage route.

Security arrangements are being made to avoid repeat of last year's terror attack which killed eight yatris and injured 20 on July 10.

"Arrangements have been made," said Ravideep Sahi, Inspector General of CRPF, adding, "Additional forces have come. We have given them orientation training and they are being deployed. Area domination exercises have started along the route. Nakas will be laid and cut-off points will be established. We will have CCTV coverage of the camps at the yatra." Sahi added that a major chunk of the 213 CAPF will be from the CRPF.