Vaishno Devi pilgrimage to resume from tomorrow after 5 months of suspension due to COVID19

ilgrimage to the cave shrine of Vaishno Devi in the Trikuta Hills of Jammu and Kashmir’ Reasi district will resume from Sunday after remaining suspended for nearly five months in view of the coronavirus pandemic, officials said on Saturday. The yatra was suspended on March 18.

Ramesh Kumar, the Chief Executive Officer of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVSB) said the pilgrimage will resume from tomorrow, and in the first week there shall be a cap of 2,000 pilgrims each day of which 1,900 would be from Jammu and Kashmir and the remaining 100 from outside. The situation will be reviewed thereafter and decisions will be taken accordingly, he said.

A shrine board member said,“The government’s order with a detailed standard operating procedure for re-opening religious places and shrines is out. The Covid-19 cases at the bhawan (sanctum sanctorum) have admitted to hospitals and the yatra will begin from August 16.”

However, the Katra hotel association met Reasi district commissioner Indu Kanwal Chib on Thursday and urged the administration to make a couple of concessions.

The pilgrims will have to first register themselves online, and they will also be required to install the Aarogya Setu application on their smartphones. It will also be mandatory for the pilgrims to wear a face mask at all times. All the pilgrims visiting the Shrine will also have to pass through thermal image scanners at the entry points.

Meanwhile, it should be noted that children below the age of 10 years, pregnant women, persons with co-morbidities and those above the age of 60 years have been advised to avoid the yatra.