A tabletop and a mock drill were conducted on Thursday by the Department of Disaster Management in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority and District Disaster Management Authorities to deal with any eventuality during the 43-day long Amarnath pilgrimage.

The exercise was conducted to assess the overall preparedness and response measures taken at critical sites to deal with any untoward incident on both the routes of Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra from Sonamarg to Holy Cave and the Pahalgam to Chandanwari route.

The Amarnath Yatra is scheduled to commence on June 30 and will continue till August 11.

Lt General Syed Ata Hasnain (Retired), Member, National Disaster Management Authority, and Nazim Zai Khan, Secretary, DMRRR were present during the mock drill while at Baltal, it was attended by Maj Gen VK Naik; Shyambir, Deputy Commissioner, Ganderbal, along with Brigadier BK Thakar from NDMA.

On the Pahalgam route, the mock drill was conducted in the presence of Maj Gen Sudhir Bahl from NDMA, Dr Piyush Singhla, Deputy Commissioner Anantnag, Suraj Rukwal, Special Secretary DDMRRR were present.

Besides other senior and middle-level officers from  National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), personnel from State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Rashtriya Rifles, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Army, Police, Health Department, Civil Defence, Transport, Fire & Emergency Services, and other emergency services attended the mock exercises.

Meanwhile, the Indian Army, Tiger Division conducted a joint security coordinating conference in Jammu for the upcoming Shri Amarnath Yatra. Lt Gen Pushpendra Singh, GOC Rising Star Corps, and ADGP Mukesh Singh co-chaired the conference to coordinate the operational preparedness of security forces in the Jammu and Samba districts.

Threat perception and security arrangements for Shri Amarnath Yatra were also discussed during the high-level meeting. The conference was attended by Divisional Commissioner, Jammu Ramesh Kumar, Deputy Commissioners of Jammu and Samba, along with IG level officers from BSF, CRPF, Deputy Director from Intelligence Bureau, Formation Commanders, and Brigade Commanders of Jammu and Samba.