The cave Shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi, illuminated with colorful lights and adorned with multi-hued flowers, is all set to welcome the pilgrims from different parts of India during the nine day long Navratri festival beginning from Wednesday.
The Shrine Board authorities have made elaborate security and other necessary arrangements to ensure smooth flow of pilgrims along the 13 km long serpentine hilly track connecting the base camp of Katra with the cave shrine nestled in Trikuta hills.
Each pilgrim is provided with RFID cards for effective crowd management along the yatra track. In addition 24x7 vigil is maintained with the help of a dedicated CCTV network of over 700 cameras along the yatra route.
An estimated number of over 3 lakh pilgrims are expected to pay obeisance inside the sanctum sanctorum during the festival. To accommodate the rush of pilgrims in the shrine area a quake resistant five storey building with a capacity to accommodate 3000 pilgrims has been constructed.
Anshul Garg, Chief Executive Officer, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board reviewed the arrangements for pilgrims on the track and other locations which include water and power supply along the track leading to the shrine, sanitation, medicare and availability of special “fast-related” food at shrine catering outlets.