J&K LG Manoj Sinha has clarified about the 8th July incident of cloudburst at Amarnath Yatra on Thursday . He said that 15 pilgrims lost their lives and 55 were injured. However 53 injured were discharged and two are under treatment in Kashmir institute of medical sciences and they too will be discharged within 2-3 days.
He said every pilgrim is insured to the tune of Rs5 lakh. Also, Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) will provide a cash assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin (NoKs) of those who lost lives in cloud burst incident at the cave shrine.
Every deceased pilgrim would therefore, get Rs 10 lakh as compensation, LG said. “The two are being treated at SKIMS and are also stable,” he said. LG Sinha further said that no pilgrim is missing as reported by a section of the media.
The LG said that some people are raising questions about increasing the number of pilgrims to cave shrine but the fact remains that a committee constituted by the Supreme Court two years ago had fixed the number of pilgrims at 7500 from both routes—Chandanwari and Baltal. “The SASB, however, fixed the number of pilgrims for both routes up to 10,000 recently,” he said.
LG Sinha that he has requested Surveyor General of India to conduct a Digital Contour Mapping (DCM) of Amarnath Cave Shrine and its adjoining areas so that steps are taken to prevent human losses due to natural calamities.
“I have requested the Surveyor General of India to conduct a Digital Contour Mapping of Amarnath Cave Shrine and its adjoining areas. The survey will recommend steps to be taken for preventing human losses in case of natural calamities at the cave shrine as seen on July 8,” the LG said while speaking to media men at Raj Bhawan .
He said even though a bund was constructed by the Irrigation and Flood Control Department, it is believed that the casualties in the recent cloud burst at Amarnath Cave Shrine would have been more if there was no bund.
There is always room for further improvement…,” he said. About the July 8 incident, the LG said that 15 pilgrims lost their lives and 55 were injured of whom all except two have been discharged. “The two are being treated at SKIMS and are also stable,” he said, adding that no pilgrims are missing as reported by a section of the media.
The LG hailed the contribution and efforts by locals while rescuing the pilgrims. “NDRF, SDRF, JKP and other Central forces played a great role in the timely rescue operation after the cloudburst. The rescue operation is over now and no one is missing,” he said.
