Jammu, Oct. 9 : To avoid any untoward incident like recently witnessed at the Rajasthan’s Chamunda Devi Temple and Himachal’s Naina Devi, the management authorities at the famous Vaishno Devi Temple have been extra vigilant this time.

On the occasion of the nine-day Navratras, the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, responsible for the management of the temple, had tightened all of its security measures considering there is abnormal surge in the number of devotees.

“The objective of this festival has been to help promote tourism in the State, the very basic foundation of our State pilgrim tourism. We have various shrines that are frequented by people not only from within the country but from all over the world. The festival is organised at base camp for nine days,” said Manoj Dwivedi, Additional Chief Executive Officer, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, Jammu.

The measures included streamlining the number of pilgrims assembling near the main shrine to ensure public safety and likewise fool-proof security was put in place to avoid any mishap.

The group system, which has been in place at the Bhavan (base camp), was properly executed. Only those pilgrims who happen to be a part of a specific group, which usually comprises around 100 devotees, as per registration numbers, were allowed to proceed for the Yatra.

Strict vigil was being maintained so that no pilgrim started the 14-kilomete Yatra to the main shrine without taking the registration slips at Katra. It was being thoroughly checked at the Ban Ganga Naka point.

“Security is quite rigid. The security is tight at every step. They are checking the luggage. The authorities are keeping a check at every step,” said Alok Dixit, another devotee.

Barricades were set up to avoid bottlenecks and facilitate a smooth flow of pilgrims who, in turn, were expected to move along as per the group number announced through a public address system.

Devotees appreciated the security measures throughout the trek to the main Shrine from the base camp.

“The security is good and the police are looking at every thing minutely. Devotees from different parts of the country have come to pay obeisance to Goddess Vaishno,” said Ravi Dubey, a pilgrim at Vaishno Devi Temple.

“It was good to come here. The security was also good. The arrangements are also ideal. There is a lot of crowd,” added Bharat Bhushan, another pilgrim.

“People come from various places to Vaishnava Devi. And these days during Navaratri, there are more pilgrims as such extra security arrangements have been made,” opined Ashok Sharma, a police official at the Vaishno Devi temple.

Millions of devotees visit the Vaishno Devi Temple annually.

Reportedly, during the Navaratri, around 30,000 pilgrims visit the temple daily, almost six times more than the daily average in normal days. (ANI)