Last July, a flood resulted in the deaths of at least 16 people and the injuries of over 20 others, with many still unaccounted for.
In 2021, there was no yatra due to the pandemic, so no lives were lost in the flood on July 28. The flash flood, caused by heavy rain, triggered shooting stones and washed away a couple of tents set up by security personnel in the area, but no one was hurt.
This year, tents for pilgrims were set up on the flood channel, also known as the dry river bed, in order to accommodate as many people as possible at a time. A langar was also allowed to operate from this dry river bed.
According to an official in the state, the planning for the tents lacked thoughtfulness, especially regarding the weather at that time of year. The main priority was to show numbers.
The Director of the JK meteorological centre stated that he could not measure the amount of rain in Amarnath on July 28 last year as there was no yatra and therefore no measuring instruments in the area.
Last year’s flood resulted in no loss of human lives or property, according to a statement from Raj Bhavan. The Holy Cave shrine was reported to be safe.
To prevent water from flowing into the dry bed, the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board built a two-ft-high stone wall in the stream. However, the water quickly rose above the wall and engulfed the tents during the flood.
In 2019 and earlier, tents were set up well beyond the flood channel of the stream.
Precautionary measures, such as building an embankment, were taken based on expected water levels, but the water that gushed into the stream last Friday was beyond all calculations.
This year’s Amarnath yatra was the first after 2019, and several Hindu organizations across the country mobilized large numbers of pilgrims for the pilgrimage.
The yatra was expected to have around six-eight lakh pilgrims, and between June 30 and Friday, 1.13 lakh pilgrims had visited the shrine in the Amarnath cave.
For the first time, the government decided to track all pilgrims through Radio Frequency Identification, a wireless tracking system. However, the RFID tags were passive and could only send locations within the range of the antennas.
The number of readers provided for the RFID tags was inadequate, and there was no clarity of purpose to the entire project, according to an official familiar with the system.
The RFID tag was useful in ascertaining how many people had crossed into the area closest to the cave, but in many places along the route, pilgrims were seen taking off the tag while resting, which may have contributed to the inability to track the missing through RFID signals.
Calls to Nitishwar Kumar, SASB CEO and Principal Secretary to L-G Sinha, went unanswered. He did not respond to questions texted to him. The L-G’s media adviser, Yatish Yadav, said he was not authorized to speak on the matter.
