Kashmir civil society urges PM to limit Amarnath yatra, pilgrim inflow GK NEWS NETWORK Srinagar, June 24: Kashmir Centerfor Social and Development Studies Monday urged the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to come up with a plan to limit the duration of Amarnath Yatra and flow of pilgrims to the cave shrine for conservation of fragile environment of the area. A KCSDS spokesman said the Center held an important meeting with its chairperson Hameeda Nayeem in chair and discussed the aftermath of Uttrakhand environmental tragedy. “There is a need for plan of action to stop the unbridled and prolonged rush of people into the extremely eco-sensitive terrain of Amarnath Shrine by limiting the number of pilgrims as well as the duration of Yatra as it used to be before its politicization (beginning with theformation of a shrine board),” said the spokesman in a statement issued here. The members of the KCSDS said the Uttrakhand tragedy should be an eye-opener for those who take the issue lightly. “The fury of nature and the consequent loss of lives in Uttrakhand has underscored the need to regulate Yatra to Amarnath Shrine, the need to cut down on numbers as per Nittish Sengupta recommendations, the need to restrict the Yatra days to the natural 15 days as used to bethe practice before it was politicized,” the KCSDS said. “There is a need to preserve the biodiversity and wild life of the area and above all need to protect the glacial table of Kashmir from melting as it has already receded in size due to warming in the area.” The Center said it would have ‘dire consequences if the flow of pilgrims and the duration of pilgrimage is not restricted and ifnatural habitat is disturbed by creating facilities on way to Amarnath Shrine.’
Posted on: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 06:11:13 +0000
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