A fresh batch of over 7,000 pilgrims left Jammu base camp on early Sunday for the Amarnath shrine in south Kashmir’s Himalayas, officials said. The pilgrims, including 1,423 women, 31 children, and 136 sadhus and Sadhvis, left for the twin base camps of Nunwan-Pahalgam in Anantnag and Baltal in Ganderbal in separate convoys under tight security arrangements in the early hours of the day, they said.
While 4,158 pilgrims are heading for Pahalgam base camp in a convoy of 148 vehicles, 2,891 pilgrims on board 138 vehicles have preferred the Baltal route, the officials said.
Authorities have made extensive multi-tier security arrangements for this year’s Yatra, as Yatra takes place after the deadly Pahalgam terror attack in which terrorists shot dead 26 people, mostly tourists, in Baisaran meadow on April 22.
Officials said that since the Yatra started on July 3, so far over 1.70 lakh pilgrims had ‘darshan’ inside the holy cave shrine.
“Another batch of 7,049 Yatris left Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in two escorted convoys for the Valley today.
The Yatra figures are set to cross the 1.76 lakh mark on the 10th day on Saturday, raising hopes for swelling numbers in the coming days.
With this fresh departure, a total of over 83,000 pilgrims have left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu for the Kashmir Valley since Wednesday, after the yatra was flagged off by LG Manoj Sinha from Jammu.
The yatra goes on as usual, amid tight security arrangements, despite the April 22 Pahalgam attack.
So far, more than 3.5 lakh people have registered online for the pilgrimage, while the numbers are likely to surge in the coming days after the J&K administration established special counters for offline registration. Last year, more than 5.10 lakh Yatris paid obeisance at the cave shrine.
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