Rush increasing, pilgrims praise SASB
Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, July 2: With the rush of devotees picking up, 10,467 pilgrims performed darshan of naturally formed Ice Shiv Lingam at holy cave of Lord Shiva situated at an altitude of 3888 meters in deep Himalayas in South Kashmir district of Anantnag on the second day of darshan today.
They included 8328 male, 1822 female, 190 children, 112 Sadhus and 15 Sadhvis, officials said. With this, 18,426 pilgrims have performed darshan in the holy cave during last two days.
The yatris are in high spirits and both the yatra tracks enroute to holy cave are agog with festivities. There is heavy rush of pilgrims on base camps of Baltal and Nunwan, Pahalgam with thousands of pilgrims reaching there from Jammu daily, officials said.
They said the second batch of pilgrims left from twin base camps to holy cave early this morning. The pilgrims who left from Baltal reached holy cave by this evening for darshan while those who left Nunwan this morning have reached, Chandanwari and Sheshnag, transit camps they added.
Officials said about 3500 pilgrims were camping at Chandanwari, the last transit camp on Pahalgam -Nunwan track. The weather in entire yatra route was pleasant today, officials said.
Officials said elaborate arrangements have been made for the pilgrims right from twin base camps to the cave shrine. The yatris were also all praise for the arrangements made by the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) and local administration of Anantnag and Ganderbal districts.
The yatris who performed darshan at holy cave have started their return journey to Jammu.
Meanwhile, a fresh batch of 4,903 pilgrims left Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas, here in a cavalcade of 235 vehicles towards twin base camps of Naunwan Pahalgam and Baltal in Anantnag and Ganderbal districts of Kashmir valley.
Among them, 2346 left for Baltal base camp, while 2557 left for Nunwan -Pahalgam base camp. The yatris after a night halt at the twin base camps will leave for their onwards sojourn tomorrow morning.
Officials said the rush of pilgrims is increasing day by day and thousands of pilgrims are reaching Jammu daily from across the country to embark on holy pilgrimage. The yatris camping in Jammu have, however, demanded that Government should ensure swift offline registration for pilgrims at Jammu.
While praising the SASB and LG administration for making elaborate arrangements for pilgrims at Jammu and other places for their boarding and lodging, some of the yatris said that they were given token for July 8 and 6 for the yatra. Bimla Devi, a pilgrim from Maharashtra said that the schools of their children will open on July 10 and they can’t wait up to July 8 for darshan as they have to reach their home State earlier by July 10.
Some pilgrims said that they have purchased the return train ticket of July 10 and once they will be allowed to leave Jammu for darshan on July 8 it will be impossible for them to return on July 10 to board the train for their home State. They appealed the authorities to ensure swift offline registration.
The traders in Jammu while welcoming the Shri Amarnath Ji pilgrims said they prayed for their safe and comfortable yatra. They said that it is hoped that this year’s yatra will boost the trade in Jammu. The Jammu trade is dependent on tourism and with the extension of train service to Katra the trade in Jammu was hit. Moreover due to COVID the Amarnath yatra could not take place for two consecutive years and in 2019 the yatra was cut short after the abrogation of Article 370 which affected the trade to a great extent, they added.
They said now the traders are hopeful that this year a good number of pilgrims will visit the holy cave and this can boost the trade in Jammu also.
The traders expressed the hope that the yatris on their return will take message that peace and brotherhood prevails in J&K.
A trader from Raghunath Bazar also demanded that a registration counter be opened in the area which can be good from security point of view.
Officials said seven Amarnath pilgrims were injured when a Tavera car collided with road side Parapet at Manad near Tikri National Highway in district Udhampur.
According to police reports, a Tavera car bearing Registration Number JK03D-2476, carrying Amarnath Ji pilgrims was on way from Jammu to Baba Shri Amarnath cave when the driver of the vehicle lost control over the vehicle and collided a roadside Parapet at Manad near Tikri National Highway about 11:30 am today.
After receiving information from a police party led by in-charge Police Post, Tikri, Sub Inspector Abdul Satar rushed to the spot and took the injured persons to PHC Tikri where four of them were referred to GMC Jammu in view of their critical condition.
Injured identified as Akshay Choudhary (45), Sunita Gupta (50), Sushil Gupta (59), Madan Lal Sahini (45), son of Gyan Chand, Kavita Sahani (41) and Shivali Devi (45) wife of Munish Agarwal, all residents of Saharanpur Uttar Pradesh (UP) and vehicle driver Owais Ahmed of Qazigund Srinagar.
Rehambal Police has registered the case and started investigation.
Meanwhile, a 43 year old female Yatri suffered a fall from Palki at Sangam base during the ongoing Amarnath Ji yatra.
The injured identified as Lakshmi Y Vaity was airlifted to SKIMS, Soura after receiving initial stabilization by the health team, led by Dr Yash Raj and Chetan Goyal who ensured prompt medical assistance to the injured pilgrim.
The yatri is undergoing treatment at SKIMS, Soura where her condition is being closely monitored.
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