NL Correspondent
Jammu Tawi: Various organizations of Katra today jointly submitted a memorandum to the Shiv Sena national president and former Chief Minister of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray through Shiv Sena (UBT) Jammu and Kashmir unit chief Manish Sahni requesting him to raise voice at the national level. Party state chief Manish Sahni said that representatives of various social, religious, business organizations of Katra met him and submitted a memorandum containing signatures of 5000 local people in the name of the party’s national president Uddhav Bala Saheb Thackeray in which a request has been made for help to cancel and transfer the ropeway project on Tarakote route of Shri Mata Vaishnodevi Yatra due to the impact on the nature, the employment and business of lakhs of local people. Sahni said that it cannot be tolerated that the nature of religious pilgrimages and the business and employment of people are affected in the name of development. Sahni argues that the development of road and rail routes has made the Yatra half-hearted, separating the first darshan Kol Kandoli and second darshan Deva Mai temples from the Yatra route. The project also affects thousands of shopkeepers, including horse and porters, and the entire Katra market, leading to increased unemployment. Sahni said that religious places should not be made picnic spots. He has appealed to the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir (who is the Chairman of the Shri Mata Vaishnodevi Shrine Board) not to destroy the Shri Mata Vaishnodevi Yatra structure through this project.
