Overview
- At the Vaishno Devi shrine in Katra, new pilgrim registrations were temporarily halted through Thursday morning to relieve pressure on the yatra route, with added staff, barricades and medical support in place.
- Kashmir’s resorts reported fresh snowfall and sold-out stays as police ran multi-layer security, set up extra checkpoints and used facial-recognition screening in Pahalgam to keep threats away from tourist areas.
- Central Delhi saw heavy footfall at India Gate and along Kartavya Path, causing traffic bottlenecks as Delhi Police deployed extra personnel to regulate movement and manage large daytime crowds.
- States reported packed temples and tightened crowd control, including a 17-km no-vehicle zone from Ringas to Khatu Shyamji in Rajasthan and systematic queue management at major shrines in Uttar Pradesh and Odisha’s Puri.
- Local curbs complemented nationwide deployments, with Karnataka closing Muthathi to visitors on Dec 31–Jan 1 and keeping Bandipur guest houses off-limits, while cities such as Bengaluru and Jaipur increased checkpoints and patrols.