Jammu: A day after banning the entry of foreign tourists to the Valley, the Jammu and Kashmir administration Wednesday suspended the Vaishno Devi pilgrimage and all inter-state bus services to the Union Territory in a bid to stem the spread of coronavirus.
To fight the corona outbreak, the J&K Home Department also accorded sanction for the deployment of 20 deputy superintendents of police to assist district health authorities in tracing the suspected corona-positive people and those who might have come in their contact across the UT and to isolate them for treatment.
“Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Yatra has been closed from today (Wednesday). Operations of all inter-state buses – incoming and outgoing from Jammu and Kashmir, banned from today,” the J&K Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) said in a tweet.
Thousands of pilgrims from across the country and abroad visit the shrine atop Trikuta hills in Reasi district daily to offer their prayers.
“In view of the advisories issued by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the J&K Government considering the spread of coronavirus, Yatra to the holy Cave Shrine has been closed from today. This has been done to ensure the safety of pilgrims and the people at large. The pilgrims are requested not to plan their visit to the shrine till the situation normalises completely,” a spokesman for the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board said. He, however, said that the ‘pooja’, ‘aarti’ and other rituals would be held at the Cave Shrine as usual.
Agencies