New Delhi/Jammu, December 2 (Scoop News) – The 49th meeting of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board was chaired by the Governor, N.N. Vohra (Chairman of the Board) here yesterday, which lasted nearly four hours. The Board took several decisions for augmenting the facilities for the Yatris, as part of its rolling plan approach to ensure that the progressively increasing number of pilgrims to the Holy Shrine are provided satisfactory facilities.
The Members of the Board viz., E. Sreedharan, Managing Director, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and Dr. S.S. Bloeria, former Chief Secretary J&K attended the meeting. Besides, R.K. Goyal, Chief Executive Officer, Mandeep K. Bhandari, Additional CEO and H.L. Maini, Technical Consultant were present.
The Board discussed the Board’s activities, particularly those relating to the facilities provided to the Yatris and endorsed the ongoing continuing initiatives of the Chairman to carry through a sustained programme to enlarge and augment the infrastructure for providing the required facilities for the growing number of Yatris.
In the aforesaid context, the Board approved inter alia a proposal to establish a 5 storey accommodation complex at
Considering the difficulties faced by the Yatris, particularly in the Banganga-Adhkwari sector on account of the limited carrying capacity of the track and the recurring acute congestion caused by the simultaneous movement of a large number of pilgrims on foot alongside pony mounted Yatris and mules carrying materials. The aforesaid multiple movements on a limited width track have been resulting in recurring accidents involving Yatris slipping and suffering injuries, which, on occasion may lead to life long disabilities or even fatalities. In this regard the Board agreed in-principle to the proposal to undertake the time bound construction of a dedicated mule track from Darshani Deodhi to Adhkwari. The Board further desired that the required track improvement works be undertaken on the critical portions of the existing track between Banganga and the Shrine, through appropriate technical interventions.
The Governor Vohra re-iterated the importance of ensuring the provision of timely medical care facilities to the ailing and injured Yatris during the pilgrimage. In this context, the Board accorded in-principle approval to construct an emergency Helipad on the Lower Track between Adhkwari and Bhawan for evacuating Yatris in emergency situations, critical illness, serious injury in an accident, etc. This aspect had been engaging the attention of the Board’s authorities for the past some time as the existing helipad is not accessible for evacuating pilgrims travelling on the Lower Track. The proposed arrangement would enable the airlifting of the injured and seriously sick persons for being promptly provided the required medical attention. The Board further decided that all health care units and dispensaries located on the track from Banganga to Bhawan should be equipped with life saving support systems, including Defibrillator with Cardiac Monitor, Self-Interpreting ECG machine and Portable Ventilator. It was also decided to procure an air-conditioned Advanced Life Support Ambulance, equipped with essential life saving equipments for transporting critical cases requiring treatment / monitoring under medical supervision from Katra to
The Chief executive Officer, Sh. R.K. Goyal, briefed the Board about the to-date status of the proceedings undertaken with M/s RITES in regard to the proposed Material Ropeway System between Siar Dabri to Bhawan and the Passenger Ropeway System between Bhawan and Bhairon Temple. The Board desired vigorous pursuit of these projects with M/s RITES. The Governor thanked Sreedharan, MD, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DC) for kindly sparing time for providing valuable guidance which enabled the Board to move forward on these two projects.
The Board was also briefed about the status of the projects approved by the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, under its Special Area Demonstration Project Scheme, which related to setting up of a 5000 LPD water heating system at Shakti Bhawan, Niharika, Katra; a mule dung based biogas plant of 4 ton per day capacity at Banganga; a solar photovoltaic power plant of 5 KWp capacity at Bhawan; and a solar emergency lighting system and mobile battery charging system. The CEO informed that the Solar Water Heating System and Solar Power Plant had since been commissioned and the Mule Dung based Bio-Gas Plant is scheduled to be commissioned by March, 2011. The Governor observed that he had asked the CEO to identify suitable locations to further enlarge the use of non-conventional energy sources in the entire Shrine area.
The Board was very happy to be informed that the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Gurukul had been commissioned on 1st July this year, with an initial intake of 20 local young students in the 6th class. The CEO informed that the 20 students are proposed to be admitted on annual basis for imparting Vedic education, along with the conventional subjects and, besides, refresher training courses would be conducted on regular basis to provide training to the Pujaris of the Shrine Board and other religious institutions in
The CEO informed the Board that as part of its social responsibility activities, the Shrine Board has been supporting a range of activities, which include the establishment and renovation of educational institutions, places of worship and public facilities. The Board has also been providing financial support to various charitable, religious, social and other organizations / institutions, which undertake activities for the larger benefit of the society. This effort of the Board has been widely acclaimed by all the stakeholders. He added that in the wake of flash floods in Leh district this year, on the directions of the Governor, 5,000 heavy quilts had been timely made available to the Leh District Administration to provide immediate succour to the flood-hit people.
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