Green panel's Red notice: No Jaykaras at Amarnath Cave

NGT declares Shrine a silence zone; bans chanting 'mantras', ringing of bells; next hearing on January 18

JAMMU: In what was its fourth ruling in last one month concerning Jammu and Kashmir, the National Green Tribunal on Wednesday banned the chanting of 'Jaykaras' and 'Mantras' at Amarnath Cave, as it declared the holy cave situated at an altitude of 3,888 metres in south Kashmir Himalayas a 'silence zone.'
The Tribunal also banned ringing of bells in the cave temple, besides issuing a slew of orders to be implemented by the Amarnath Shrine Board, in a bid to preserve the eco- sensitive shrine.
An NGT bench headed by Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar while hearing a plea by environment activist Gauri Maulekhi, said there should be no ringing of bells or chanting of 'mantras' or 'jaykaras' in Amarnath Cave and asked the board for strict implementation of its orders.
It also ruled that pilgrims would have to deposit all mobiles and belongings at the last check post, asking the shrine authorities to consider building a separate room where people could keep their belongings.
The tribunal also said there should be a single queue of people walking towards the main cave from the last check post.
The bench also held the Amarnath Shrine Board should ensure that proper infrastructural facilities are provided to the pilgrims so that they are not deprived of a clear 'darshan', and the ecology of the area is maintained.
The green panel also ordered removal of iron grills in front of the ice stalagmite resembling the 'Shiva Linga' so that devotees could get a better view of it and said there should be no noise pollution near the sacred structure.
These directions have come after the green court rapped the Amarnath Shrine Board last month for failing to provide adequate infrastructure facilities to pilgrims and asked it to submit a status report on the same in the first week of December.
Earlier in the day, the NGT said that declaring the area around the Amarnath cave shrine a "silence zone" would be helpful in preventing avalanches and maintaining its pristine nature.
"Nobody would be permitted to carry anything from the stairs leading to the holy cave and everybody should be properly frisked at the entry point. From the point of stairs and the area inside the cave should be declared silence zone," the bench said.
The green panel also directed the committee of experts headed by an additional secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to submit an action plan on providing facilities to the pilgrims within three weeks.
Environment activist Gauri Maulekhi, on whose plea the directions were passed, welcomed the NGT order and termed it "progressive".
"The Amarnath cave is located in a delicate ecosystem. The directions would make the Amarnath Yatra safe and convenient for the devotees. This would protect the shrine from degradation and ensure it is protected for the coming generations. It is indeed a very good and progressive direction," Maulekhi said while talking to a Newswire in New Delhi.
The matter will be heard again on January 18 next year.
In November, the NGT rapped the Amarnath Shrine Board for not providing proper infrastructural facilities to pilgrims going to the cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas, saying it could not "deprive people of proper darshan".
The green panel took exception to non-compliance with the directions issued by the Supreme Court in 2012 and asked the board what steps it had taken in all these years.
The bench directed the experts committee to submit report on aspects such providing a proper path and declaring the cave shrine a "silence zone" while maintaining cleanliness in the area.
This was fourth ruling concerning the State in past one month by the Green panel. On November 13, the NGT had imposed similar directions for the Vaishno Devi shrine in J&K, capping the number of pilgrims at the shrine at 50,000 a day while two days later it had asked the Amarnath Shrine Board to provide more infrastructural facilities at the Cave temple.
A day before, on December 12, the NGT has asked the state government to make functional a waste-to-energy plant in Srinagar in 18 months, taking notice of the rising garbage in the summer capital.
Meanwhile, reacting on the ban, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) termed the NGT order a "Tughlaki fatwa" (whimsical whip) and said Hindus were not responsible for every ecological problem on earth.
"We appeal to the Government of India to stop hurting the Hindu religious sentiments all the time for one or the other reason and to get the NGT to withdraw such a Tughlaki fatwa at once," VHP international president Pravin Togadia said.