Jammu: Following the death of 12 pilgrims in a stampede, the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board decided on Sunday that bookings for the yatra to the shrine can only be done online. Jammu & Kashmir administration on Sunday made 100% online booking compulsory, besides deciding to rope in technical experts to adopt best crowd management practices so that such incidents do not recur in the future.
At present, pilgrims undertaking the 13-km trek can either get their yatra slips issued online or on their arrival at Katra town. A Shrine Board official said that while on an average, only 2,000 daily yatra slips are issued online, around 28,000 are issued to pilgrims on their arrival at Katra. J&K lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha while chairing a special meeting of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) emphasised on appropriate use of technology and putting RFID tracking system in place for effective crowd and queue management. He also advised roping in technical experts and adopting best crowd management practises. Manoj Sinha also announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of each of those who died on Saturday. This is in addition to the Rs 10 lakh ex-gratia announced on Saturday.
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A set of directives were issued for physical and systematic improvements wherever required after critical examination. The board has directed the CEO to take urgent action on diverse fronts including effective crowd management, augmentation of infrastructure, making booking of yatra 100% online, working out plans for decongestion of the entire track, particularly the Bhawan area and separation of entry and exit routes at Bhawan.
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