Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, July 2: Notwithstanding the claims of the Government and Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) of keeping all arrangements for yatris in place, the pilgrims coming from different parts of country are subjected to many hardships both at Pahalgam and Nunwan base camps.
A group of 100 pilgrims from Gujarat who had reached Srinagar for the pilgrimage of holy cave on June 29 two weeks in advance of the darshan date were not allowed to leave for cave shrine by authorities and asked to get themselves registered afresh.
But to their surprise these yatris were given different dates of darshan and that too not from a single track, said Paras Rathore, head of the group from Nunwan.
He said that some yatris were given the darshan date of July 2 while others of July 4 and some of July 7 that too from two different tracks.
He said this way the yatris have been put to many hardships by the administration and their duration of yatra will also increase as a result of which the yatris have run short of money as well.
Moreover the yatris who were given the darshan date of July 4 and 7 said they have not been allowed to enter the base camp and they are spending the nights in open as they can’t afford the exorbitant rates in the hotels.
Same was the story of another group of 46 pilgrims from Jaipur, Rajasthan. Hanumat Sharma, head of the group who is camping at Pahalgam, said they were given different dates of darshan and it was not possible for them to go on three different dates and wait for over one more week. He said some pilgrims of the group were given darshan date of today, others of July 5 and July 7 respectively.
He said the group is camping at Pahalgam in the open for last two days and the authorities are not bothered for them.
These yatris have demanded that the fresh registration counters be opened at Pahalgam and Baltal and the yatris should not be asked to go Srinagar for the registration as it is a cumbersome process for them.
He said in a strange development Kishore Kumar, a pilgrim in their group was given darshan date of July 2 via Nunwan while his wife was given date of July 4 via Baltal. Same way, Mohit, another pilgrim in the group was given darshan date of July 3 via Pahalgam and his 55 year old mother was given the darshan date of July 7.
“This is a big confusion and the yatris feel totally harassed,” he said, adding the administration should take immediate steps to put the system in order.
He said in the base camps only those pilgrims are allowed entry who had to leave for darshan next day while those who had reached one or two days in advance have to stay in open or book the private rooms or hotels which are costly as the exorbitant rates are being charged from yatris at Pahalgam.
He demanded that SASB should make arrangements for yatris stay at Pahalgam as well as Baltal who reach there one or two days in advance of darshan.
Meanwhile, a fresh batch of 12, 165 pilgrims performed darshan in holy cave on fifth day of yatra till last reports came in today. With this a total number of 63,457 pilgrims have performed darshan in holy cave since the yatra started on June 28.
Till yesterday 51,292 pilgrims had performed darshan in holy cave.
The weather enroute to cave remained partially cloudy, an official spokesman said.
He said 6,504 pilgrims left for holy cave from Nunwan Base camp via traditional Chandanwari track while 4,906 left via shorter Baltal track and 785 went by air.
He said the yatris who performed darshan in the cave shrine were on their way to Baltal and Pahalgam to return to their homes.
A fresh batch of 1,785 pilgrims left Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas the base camp in winter capital for holy cave early this morning under tight security arrangements.
These pilgrims included 1,395 male, 326 female, 14 children and 50 Sadhus. The cavalcade of 70 vehicles carrying these pilgrims had crossed the Jawahar Tunnel by the evening and were on their way to their next destinations, the spokesman added.
This was the sixth batch of yatris leaving from Bhagwati Nagar since 55 day long yatra started from Jammu on June 27.
At Bhagwati Nagar Base Camp, Ram Sena president Rajiv Mahajan along with other activists of his organization today donated nine blood pressure machines and 1000 Lasix injections to the Medical aid Centre at a simple function.
Mr Mahajan said that this step was taken as the Medical Department was not having adequate BP machines to examine the yatris.
Meanwhile INTUC leader Pushkar Nath Pandita who visited Nunwan camp today said that no proper arrangements of medicare facilities in the camp have been made for yatris. He also demanded opening of fresh registration counters at Pahalgam and Baltal with boarding and lodging arrangements at two base camps for unregistered yatris or those pilgrims who come in advance to the date of darshan to relieve them of the problems being faced by them.
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