Vaishno Devi temple: Cap on visitors from outside J&K likely to increase this week; check details

The cap on the number of visitors was imposed to pre-empt the chances of the spread of Covid-19 infection at the temple.

The wait of the devotees of Shri Vaishno Devi might come to an end as the number of visitors from outside the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will be reviewed by the end of this week, ANI reported. The doors of the famous shrine were opened on August 16 this month only however the cap on the number of visitors from other regions of the country has posed hurdles to large number of people to visit the shrine,

At present, out of the 2,000 odd visitors every day, 1,900 visitors are from inside the UT of Jammu and Kashmir while meagre 100 visitors are allowed from all the parts of the country. The cap on the number of visitors was imposed to pre-empt the chances of the spread of Covid-19 infection at the temple. The temple administration, which in consultation with the government authorities had opened the temple, had said that the cap on the number of visitors will be periodically reviewed and more visitors will be allowed entry into the shrine.

Ramesh Kumar, who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board told news agency ANI that the capacity of visitors from other regions of the state will most likely be increased in the review this week. However, he added that the maximum capacity of visitors from outside the UT will not cross the limit of 500 visitors a day till the end of the September month.

A detailed standard operating procedure has to be followed by all the visitors visiting the shrine. The SOP was designed by the temple administration along with the government authorities. All visitors have to carry their COvid-19 negative report which must not be older than the previous 48 hours. Alongside, senior citizens, children below 10 years of age, pregnant women along with people suffering from comorbidities have been advised to refrain from visiting the shrine and the temple administration will bar their entry as well. All visitors are also supposed to register online before their visit. After a lull of over 5 months in view of the Coronavirus crisis, the shrine finally opened in this month on August 16.