The radio frequency tags in the vehicle during the Amarnath pilgrimage will enhance security
The threat to the Amarnath yatra is high this year and convoys are usually the most vulnerable. Keeping this in mind, the home ministry has directed the security forces to ensure that every vehicle carrying Amarnath yatris should be equipped with a radio frequency identification tag or RFID, which can verify the vehicles.
Also, to ensure better coordination among the forces, the home ministry has decided that a joint control room would be set up at the base camps of the yatra, both at Baltal and Pehalgam.
"All vehicles carrying Amarnath pilgrims will have one RF tag for its close monitoring for better security," a senior official handling the pilgrimage arrangements told NDTV.
According to him, RF tag uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track objects attached to it. "An RF tag attached to an automobile can be used to track its progress," he said.
A joint control room will be set up for better coordination between the Jammu and Kashmir Police, paramilitary forces and the army to ensure tight security during the two-month-long pilgrimage to the cave shrine, dedicated to Lord Shiva, in the Himalayas in Jammu and Kashmir, the officer said.
The government has decided to extend the validity of temporary prepaid mobile connections taken by pilgrims during the Amarnath pilgrimage, beginning June 28, from seven days to 10 days.
An additional 22,500 paramilitary personnel would be deployed along the entire route of the Amarnath pilgrimage, for which multi-tier security arrangements will be put in place. The home ministry estimates some 40,000 security personnel would be deployed.
"Tracking of pilgrims' movement through satellites, installation of jammers, CCTV cameras and bulletproof bunkers, deployment of dog squads and quick reaction teams will be part of the security drill along pilgrimage routes," another officer who is stationed in the valley said.
Even Doppler radars have been deployed for weather update every two hours for the benefits of pilgrims, besides deployment of quick reaction teams of the National Disaster Response Force or NDRF.
So far, 1.5 lakh people have registered for the pilgrimage. Last year, a total of 2.60 lakh pilgrims offered prayers at the shrine.
The Amarnath shrine is situated in a narrow gorge at the farther end of Lidder Valley in south Kashmir.