Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Thursday launched an online helicopter booking service portal for the devotees who intend to pay obeisance at Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra cave in Kashmir.
For the first time the devotees will be able to travel with ease directly from Srinagar to Panchtarni to complete the holy yatra in a single day, Sinha said in a tweet.
The 43-day-long Amarnath yatra will commence on June 30 to August 11, 2020 after two years of Covid restrictions. “It was a long pending endeavour of the Government to introduce heli services from Srinagar for better connectivity and accessibility. Devotees can easily log on to Shrine Board’s website for the booking”, LG tweeted.
An official spokesperson said the Lt Governor directed the Shrine Board and NIC officials to ensure hassle free and secure online helicopter booking service for the pilgrims.
Nitishwar Kumar, Principal Secretary to Lt Governor briefed the Lt Governor about the new helicopter booking service portal for Shri Amarnath Ji yatra.
Earlier, helicopter services were operational for only two sectors, but now, the pilgrims can avail the services in four sectors (to & fro) viz. Srinagar to Neelgrath, Srinagar to Pahalgam , Neelgrath to Panchtarni, & Pahalgam to Panchtarni, with total 11 helicopters to remain available for the passengers. Addition of two new sectors from Srinagar will encourage those yatris who wish to complete the yatra in a single day, and can return home.
This facility is also available for the devotees who want to travel only one way. The one-way tariff from Srinagar to Neelgrath shall be Rs. 11,700; Srinagar to Pahalgam Rs. 10,800; Neelgrath to Panchtarni Rs. 2,800 and Pahalgam to Panchtarni Rs. 4,200.
The portal was designed & developed by National Informatics Centre, State Unit Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
The Yatra 2022 shall commence on 30th June and culminate on 11th August. Expecting a heavy footfall of yatris, the Shrine Board has made adequate arrangements this year. In 2020 and 2021, due to Covid, no yatra was held.
Atal Dulloo, Financial Commissioner, (Additional Chief Secretary)Agriculture Production Department; Sh Vivek Bhardwaj, Financial Commissioner (Additional Chief Secretary) Finance Department; Sh. Akshay Labroo, Director Information & Public Relations Department; Sh Rahul Singh, Additional Chief Executive Officer, SASB; Sh Anup Kumar Soni, OSD to CEO SASB and other officers were present on the occasion at Raj Bhawan.