Shri Amarnath Yatra And Environment Conservation

By Ravinder Singh
Fifty kilometer long route via Pahalgam and 14 kilometer from Baltal side to Shri Amarnath Cave Shrine remains jam packed with devotees during yatra days. During those days one can see thousands of pony-wallas and other local laborers who carry devotees to the shrine. The road up to Chandanwari is already built. There are 14 points along two routes where tourists assemble for rest and stay. This can entirely be avoided by ropeway from Baltal side. Baltal to Holy Cave From Baltal Holy Cave is just 14 Kms ahead. This distance can be covered by foot or one can hire ponies to easily reach your destination. However, 'Dandies' are also available for handicapped and aged pilgrims. The width of the pebbled (kuchha) road is a bit narrow as compared to the Chandanwari- Holy Cave route. Moreover, the road is uneven as compared to the Chandanwari route, but pilgrims can return to base camp Baltal through this route in just one day. ÿ In May1969 I visited Pahalgam which was then the base camp for pilgrims going to Amarnath. It was about a kilometer stretch of flat area surrounded by hills on either side. One could spot just a few shops and lodges. We decided to go up to Chandanwadi. The path to follow to reach there was narrow. One could see snow covered steep hills on either sides of path. We also met 3-4 tourists en-route. We noticed that in the whole passage there was no place to take rest, no shelter for protection in case of rains or land slide. But above all not even a single policeman was seen which showed that there existed no fear of any sort in that time. This year we are informed that 4-5 lakh devotees paid visit to Holy Cave Shrine in just two months. Rush of devotees could be seen in all these days in area around 50 kilometers in length from both routes. But unlike before in the present times one gets to see number of security personnel on duty there. This year at one point 300 tents had been pitched for devotees and there were CRPF camps for the protection of devotees lined up all along the route. Visit of pilgrims in such a large number can be a reason in creation of a lot of environmental hazards. This can lead to gross violation of environment laws also but it has been seen that such violations have been done earlier also. In Gujarat authorities managed to raise Sardar Sarovar dam height from 80 meters in 1995 to 110 meters in 2004 and planned pond level is 138 meters. Damage to environment can be done in our state also. Thousand tons of human waste difficult to recycle in freezing cold is generated along Amarnath route every day. Such is the flow of devotees in the present times that at times there may be over 50,000 devotees, service providers and security personnel at one base camp. They are provided with different facilities there. Food is cooked for them. Generators for providing light are run during all the days of yatra. Service of ponies and horses to carry pilgrims is also provided. Helicopters also operate in the area. Some 5,000 tents, 5,000 toilets, 5000 garbage boxes, 100 generators and 1000 teams of cooks with all the provisions are required to serve peak rush. All these collectively lead to severe environment damage. It seems that Amarnath agitation is an attempt to distract attention from real environment devastation issue which was also reported by press as it happened in Delhi where demolition of few big show rooms triggered agitation which ultimately resulted in regularization of half a million illegal shops and half a million illegal home constructions. This yatra has till now helped locals in that area make money by providing services to devotees visiting there but now the so called small piece of land has become dividing line between two communities. Environment conservation is the need of the hour. For that helicopter service needs to be discontinued and several other steps are also needed to be taken. J&K government may build a ropeway from Baltal side. It will help devotees to return to Baltal the same day. When they do not stay enroute then obviously no harm will be caused to environment.