Avtar Bhat
SRINAGAR/JAMMU June 29: The annual Yatra of Shri Amarnathji in the Kashmir Himalayas commenced today, from both Pahalgam and Baltal tracks, with Governor N N Vohra, who is also the Chairman of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board, (SASB) and 6097 pilgrims paying obeisance at the sanctum sanctorum in the holy cave . The Governor also participated in the Pratham Puja ceremony to maintain the tradition. He prayed for sustained peace, harmony, progress and prosperity in the State.
Meanwhile, undeterred by unprecedented weather conditions and present unrest in Kashmir valley, the rush of the Amarnath yatris has started picking up with 11,288 pilgrims leaving for holy cave from two base camps of Nunwan in Pahalgam and Baltal in Sonamarg this morning.
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Out of them, 6,435 pilgrims left via 14 kilometers shortest Baltal track while 4853 pilgrims left via 45 km long traditional Pahalgam, Chandanwari route early this morning for holy cave.
According to official reports, 6,097 pilgrims have performed their obeisance in the cave shrine by this evening.
Sources said there is a heavy rush at Pahalgam, Sheshnag and Baltal base camps. While thousands of pilgrims are camping in various hotels in Pahalgam and base camp Nunwan, over 6000 yatris have managed to reach Sheshnag by this afternoon. Some of them decided to have a night halt at Sheshnag while others left for Panchtarni, the last halting spot enroute to holy cave. Besides, thousands of yatris are also camping at the base camp of Baltal where from they will leave for holy cave in the early morning tomorrow.
The weather enroute to holy cave was cloudy and it was also drizzling in the morning from both the tracks. But the movement of yatra continued. Later the rain stopped as the day progressed.
Meanwhile, a yatri died today after getting hit by a shooting stone at Brarimarg on Baltal route to the cave shrine of Amarnath taking the death toll of yatris to two during last two days.
According to a SASB official, Bushan Kotwal, 47, son of Kripa Ram Kotwal and a resident of Afghan Mohalla Jammu was injured after he was hit in the head by a shooting stone at mountainous range of Brarimarg. He said he was shifted to Baltal Base Hospital where doctors declared him as brought dead. His body has been kept in the Hospital for legal formalities.
The Governor while expressing his grief over the death of pilgrim has announced that SASB will pay Rs 3 lakh to next of kin of deceased immediately.
It may be recalled that yesterday an Assistant Sub Inspector of ITBP, Sanjun Singh, died of cardiac arrest between Brarimarg and the holy cave.
Deputy Commissioner Anantang, Syed Abid Rashid who is also Yatra Officer told Excelsior that 4835 Yatris crossed the Gate towards Chandanwari by 11am today. He said all arrangements for pilgrims have been made well in advance. The track has been fully cleared and it is through for pilgrims while robust arrangements for security have also been made, he added.
The DC said Joint Control Rooms has been established at Nunwan Base Camp for yatris and all efforts have been made to ensure that this will be a safe and secure yatra while the arrangements for medical facilities have been made at various places enroute by Health Department.
The SASB has also opened a Yatra Help Line at Raj Bhawan which will provide 24×7 information to pilgrims. Besides the Joint Control Room has been established at Baltal also.
A second batch of 2481 pilgrims left the Jammu Yatri Niwas at Bhagwati Nagar for holy cave early this morning under tight security measures in a cavalcade of 66 vehicles. They included 1683 male, 663 female and 180 Sadhus. The pilgrims were singing and dancing. As they left the Yatri Niwas Bum Bum Bhole and Baba Barfani Ki Jai rent the air and all the pilgrims were in a jubilant mood.
Out of them 1616 pilgrims left via traditional 45 km long Pahalgam route while 865 left via 14 km long shortest Baltal track.
All the pilgrims had crossed the Jawahar tunnel by this afternoon and they were proceeding towards the respective base camps of Nunwan, Pahalgam and Baltal, Sonamarg when last reports came in.
Meanwhile, 12 Amarnath pilgrims were injured when three vehicles collided at Lakhanpur in Kathua district early this morning.
“A bus from Uttar Pradesh carrying Amarnath pilgrims collided head on with a truck and a also hit a tree near Golden Gate Lakhanpur’’, police said.
The police rushed to the spot and shifted the injured pilgrims to District Hospital Kathua for treatment. Out of them 12 injured pilgrims were hospitalized while others were discharged after giving first aid, police said. The truck driver also suffered injures in this mishap, police added.
After his early morning visit to the Shrine, the Governor reviewed the arrangements made for the pilgrims at the Yatra Shrine Camp and complimented the State Government, Army, Central Armed Police Forces, State Police and all the other concerned agencies for their support and cooperation on behalf of SASB. He stressed the need for effective supervision and round the clock monitoring by the camp directors and all the functionaries involved in the management of the Yatra for ensuring smooth conduct of the pilgrimage.
Meanwhile, Umang Narula, CEO of the Shrine Board, has appealed to the intending Yatris to embark on the pilgrimage only after getting medically checked and obtaining a valid Yatra Permit. This would ensure against any avoidable inconvenience to them.
The CEO said that the Board had issued a detailed Advisory of Do’s and Don’ts for the Yatris visiting the Shri Amarnathji Shrine and the Yatris need to strictly adhere to these guidelines as they would require to undertake an arduous trek through high mountain ranges under uncertain weather conditions.
The yatris reaching here from different parts of the country are in high spirits and said that they don’t feel any kind of threat from any body while talking to reporters at Nunwan and Jammu. They also showed satisfaction over the arrangements made by Shrine Board as well as State Government and said that the people of Valley have also rendered a lot of cooperation and showed total hospitality.
However, some Yatris still complained about lack of proper facilities at the newly opened Token Centre at TRC Community Hall at Rail Head saying there is no shelter for their stay and they have to wait in queues outside during the rainfall also. Besides, there are no facilities of a toilet and urinal while the stinking garbage dumps near the token Centre have created a public nuisance, they added.
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