Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, July 7: The rush of Amarnath yatra is increasing day by day with 16,954 pilgrims performing darshan at holy cave of Lord Shiva in deep Himalays in Kashmiri Valley on day 10 of yatra today.
According to an official spokesman the yatra is picking up and so far 1,29,099 pilgrims have performed darshan in cave shrine since the 45 day long yatra started on June 28 via Baltal track.
He said the yatra has considerably picked up after the opening of traditional Pahalgam -Chandanwari track for pilgrimage on July 2 and there is a heavy rush of pilgrims on both the tracks now.
The weather enroute to holy cave was pleasant for the entire day and the to and fro movement of pilgrims was smooth during the entire day, he added.
He said elaborate arrangements have been made for the pilgrims and they are given information about the weather forecast four times a day.
The spokesman said the clear sky enabled Swami Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) to allow the movement of pilgrims from base camps of Baltal and Nunwan and from other camps of Chandanwari, Sheshnag and Panjtarni towards the holy cave.
He said out of 1,29, 000 pilgrims who performed the darshan in holy cave so far 1,14,000 have returned towards the Capital city of Srinagar while others are on their way.
Meanwhile, a fresh batch of 2479 pilgrims left for holy cave early this morning from Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas here under tight security. They included 1617 males, 684 females, 31 children and 147 Sadhus. They left in a cavalcade of 78 vehicles.
All the vehicles which crossed the Jawahar Tunnel by the evening have reached to the base camps of Nunwan and transit camp of Manigam when last reports came in where from they will leave to holy cave early in the morning.
Meanwhile, the heavy rush of pilgrims is still being seen in front of registration counters here and various Hindu organizations including VHP, Baba Amarnath and Buda Amarnath Yatri Niyas and Bajrang Dal have demanded opening of more yatri registration counters in Jammu. They have made an appeal to Government to run additional free buses for Sadhus also.
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