JAMMU: At least 13 pilgrims were injured on Tuesday when a bus carrying devotees to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine met with an accident in J&K’s Jammu district.
Officials said the bus carrying pilgrims to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine went out of the driver’s control and collided with a parked truck in the Nagrota area of the district.
“At least 13 people were injured in this accident. The injured were shifted to the government medical college (GMC) hospital in Jammu City where attending doctors said their condition was stable, " the officials added.
The injured included three children and two women pilgrims.
The police were ascertaining the cause of the accident.
Overloading and overspeeding are two major reasons for highway accidents in Jammu and Kashmir. Every year, around 1.25 crore devotees from all over the country come to pay obeisance at the Mata Vaishno Devi cave shrine situated atop the Trikuta Hills in the Reasi district of Jammu division.
Mata Vaishno Devi shrine board recently suspended the proposed Rs 250 crore ropeway project from Katra base camp town to the cave shrine. This was intended to help elderly devotees and children, who find the uphill 12 km trek from Katra to the cave shrine difficult. The decision to suspend the ropeway project was taken after ponywallahs, shopkeepers, hoteliers and small traders in Katra town agitated saying that the ropeway would deprive them of their livelihood.
The protesters forced a Sangharsh Samiti that brought life to a standstill in Katra town. The leaders of the Sangharsh Samiti were arrested by police while trying to restore order in the town. The government finally formed a committee that engaged the Sangharsh Samiti members in a dialogue after which the arrested leaders were released and the decision to construct the ropeway was put in abeyance. J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha is the chairman of the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine board and also of the Shri Amarnathji shrine board.