Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR/JAMMU, July 10: On the first day of Hindu Calendar month of Sawan which is being considered a pious month of Lord Shiva, about 12,000 devotees paid obeisance at the holy cave of Swami Amarnath today.
According to official spokesman there was a heavy rush of pilgrims and till this evening, 11,921 yatris paid obeisance to Ice Lingam in the holy cave situated at an altitude of 3880 meters in the deep Himlalayas in South Kashmir district of Anantnag.
The spokesman said that till date 1,46, 692 pilgrims from different parts of the country have performed darshan at Cave Shrine in the last 12 days since the first day of darshan started on June 29. Majority of pilgrims among them have returned to their homes states.
He said 8,929 pilgrims left for holy cave from Nunwan, Pahalgam base camp via traditional Chandanwari-Sheshnag track while 5,910 pilgrims left from Baltal, Sonamarg Base camp via shortest Dumel track.
He said the yatris camping at Sheshnag and Panchtarni also started their onwards journey to holy cave this morning.
The spokesman said that 2,430 pilgrims left for twin base camps from Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas early this morning in a cavalcade of 71 vehicles under tight security measures.
He said 1500 yatris had reached Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas by this evening to leave for base camps tomorrow.
Meanwhile in a review meeting held today Umang Narula, CEO, and Jitendra Kumar Singh, Additional CEO of the Shrine Board, gave latest update to Governor N.N Vohra, who is also the Chairman of the Board. CEO further informed that during the initial 12 days since the start of the Yatra, the movement of pilgrims from Jammu to Kashmir Valley was stopped on two days due to road blockage/ security reasons and that, despite this two day suspension of movement, so far 1,46,692 pilgrims had performed the pilgrimage.
CEO informed the Governor that till date 14 Pilgrims had died at various locations on both the Yatra routes, upwards of Baltal and Pahalgam, since start of the Yatra started on June 29. Of these 14, two persons died due to accidents caused by shooting stones fall and an accidental while the other 12 died due to medical reasons. One pilgrim from Telangana died due to a cylinder blast at Veesu-Mir Bazar, Qazigund, outside the Yatra area and two persons, an ITBP Personnel and an ISRO Technician died before the start of Yatra due to cardiac failures.
The Shrine Board has put in place arrangements for providing immediate help and in rescuing Yatris in distress. Eight Mountain Rescue Teams (MRTs), each comprising 10 highly trained personnel of the State Police, have been located at various vulnerable places enroute Holy Cave to undertake immediate evacuation of any Yatri in trouble. Besides, 11 teams of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and 01 MRT of CRPF have also been deployed in the Yata area at vulnerable locations to assist Yatris. Critically injured and sick yatris, service providers and others are also assisted by timely evacuation from the higher altitude camps to the lower camps to enable provision of adequate medical attention.
In response to the Governor’s direction to the CEO to urgently issue a fresh appeal to all the Yatris to strictly follow the health advisory and dos and don’ts issued by the Shrine Board, the latter has yet again urged pilgrims to come fully prepared after achieving physical fitness before under taking the pilgrimage; do deep breathing exercises and Yoga, particularly Pranayam, for improving oxygen efficiency of the body; avoid exerting beyond their normal capacity; consume plenty of carbohydrates to reduce fatigue and prevent low blood sugar levels; take time to acclimatize before commencing trekking; stopping and relaxing for a short while on steep inclines and to quickly descent to a lower elevation if they start having symptoms of high altitude sickness; not to rush while trekking.
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