Thousands throng Hazratbal shrine to have glimpse of holy relic

Srinagar, Feb 9: Thousands of devotees thronged Dargah Hazratbal shrine on the occasion of Friday following Shab-e-Me’raj.

Thousands of people including women and elderly offered congregational Friday prayers and had a glimpse of holy relics. Emotional scenes were witnessed as devotees raised their hands and offered prayers while having glimpse of the holy relic.

Various departments, including SMC, PDD, SRTC, Traffic Police had made special arrangements for devotees.

SP Traffic City, Tariq Wani, said that a special route plan was formulated to ensure hassle-free movement of devotees. He said that men and machinery were on the ground to ensure all the devotees could commute without any issue.

“All senior officials from the Traffic police were on the ground to monitor the situation. Around 90 thousand devotees visited the shrine, and there was a huge rush of vehicles. Other departments from the district administration coordinated to ensure everything was right. In addition to that, many NGOs also volunteered in this regard,” Wani said.

Officials said that buses from J&K Road Transport Corporation were pressed to ferry devotees during these days. They said that special sanitation drives were carried out to ensure that the vicinity of the shrine was neat and clean.

“In addition to the usual sanitation drive, we carried out special sanitation drives across Hazratbal shrine to ensure no inconvenience is caused to devotees,” an official from SMC said.

Meanwhile, markets across Hazratbal were abuzz amid the festive atmosphere. The vending zones and shops had come to life as devotees thronged the area.

“We are always looking up to these days as this ensures a brisk sale of our goods. Be it a fruit vendor, snack seller, or any other shopkeeper, everyone earns his livelihood here and all thanks to the almighty,” said Bashir Ahmad, a vendor.