Avtar Bhat
SRINAGAR/JAMMU, July 1: With 15,664 yatris performing darshan at holy cave of Swami Amarnath situated in the lap of deep Himalays at an altitude of 14000 feet in South Kashmir district of Anantnag on day four of yatra today, the total yatris who paid obeisance in cave shrine so far has reached 51,292.
According to an official spokesman, 15,664 pilgrims performed darshan in the holy cave till last reports came in today while hundreds of pilgrims from both Baltal and Chandanwari tracks were on their way to the cave shrine.
The spokesman said that 3,393 pilgrims left Nunwan-Pahalgam base camp for holy cave under tight security arrangements early this morning via traditional Chandanwari track while 3,853 pilgrims left via shorter Baltal track. Besides 1100 pilgrims left via chopper to holy cave, spokesman added.
Confirmed reports from holy cave said that the natural formed Ice Lingam is in full size. However yatris accused the administration of lack of arrangements.
Dr Mohan Khosla, who performed darshan in holy cave, said that there are not proper arrangements for the pilgrims and they were subjected to many problems enroute. He said even favoritism is shown and influential yatris are given preference to the others in boarding of choppers for holy cave which should have been avoided.
The sources said at Nunwan there are no proper medicare facilities available in the camp and the yatris who have the darshan date of two days ahead are not allowed to leave for holy cave from Pahalgam two days earlier by the authorities. As a matter of fact it will take two days to these pilgrims to cover the journey to reach holy cave. But this argument is turned down by the authorities, which has been a cause of concern for the pilgrims.
Sources said the unregistered pilgrims or the pilgrims who had come ahead of their darshan date are turned back from Pahalgam, Manigam and Sonamarg and asked to seek fresh registration from Srinagar which is a cumbersome and time consuming exercise for them. Instead of asking these pilgrims to go to Srinagar the fresh registration counters be opened at Pahalgam and Baltal to facilitate them hassle free pilgrimage, sources added.
Sources said that the rush is considerably less this year than last year when record number of pilgrims numbering from twenty to twenty five thousand used to perform darshan in cave shrine daily.
A fresh batch of 2,168 pilgrims left Bhagwati Nagar base camp for the holy cave early this morning under security cover in a cavalcade of 81 vehicles.
These yatris included 1,525 male, 460 female, 35 children and 148 Sadhus. They left in 48 buses and 33 LMVs. The convoy, had crossed the Jawahar tunnel by this evening and were on their way to the next destinations.
This was the fifth batch of pilgrims to holy cave from Bhagwati Nagar base camp.
Meanwhile Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) has yet again appealed to all those who intend to undertake the pilgrimage to ensure that they complete the necessary registration formalities and obtain a valid yatra permit before they embark on the pilgrimage to avoid inconvenience on arrival in the State, as no yatri who does not possess a valid Yatra Permit shall be allowed to cross beyond Nunwan and Baltal base camps under any circumstances.
Navin K. Choudhary, Chief Executive Officer, SASB, reiterated the importance of strictly enforcing the Board’s decision against any unregistered pilgrim being allowed to undertake the Yatra and stated that this is all the more important keeping the recent Uttarakhand tragedy in view.
It is pertinent to recall that for this year’s Yatra, the Shrine Board has fixed a ceiling of 7500 yatris per day per route and, besides, the 1000 plus pilgrims who travel by the Helicopter services up to Panjtarni.
Mr Choudhary stressed the directions of the Governor N N Vohra who is also the Chairman of SASB that this number must not be exceeded under any circumstances and urged the intending pilgrims to take note of it. He also stressed that the pilgrims must embark on the Yatra strictly as per the dates and the routes specified in their Yatra Permits, clarifying that the Yatra Permits for this year’s pilgrimage are of different colour, for each day of the week and route, to facilitate Police personnel deployed at the Access Control Gates at Domel and Chandanwari in determining whether a yatri possesses Yatra Permit valid for the relevant date and route.
In this context, he cautioned the intending yatris against undertaking this arduous yatra without first securing a valid Yatra Permit. He said that for ensuring effective security arrangements along the difficult tracks, only those yatris who are in possession of a yatra permit, which is valid for a specified date and route, will be allowed to proceed beyond the base camps, and cross the Access Control Gates at Domel and Chandanwari.
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