Thousands of pilgrims reach J&K
Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, June 28: The 43 -day long Shri Amarnathji yatra will begin from tomorrow with Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to flag off the first batch of pilgrims from Bhagwati Nagar based Yatri Niwas here under tight security arrangements.
The yatra will be flagged off early in the morning and tight security arrangements have been made at Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas and enroute to holy cave right from Lakahnpur -the Gateway of J&K in Kathua district.
Shri Amarnathji yatra is being organised this year from twin Chandanwari and Baltal routes after remaining suspended due to COVID pandemic in 2020-21 and its half way cancellation in August 2019 in view of revocation of Art 370. The 43 days yatra will conclude on August 11 on the occasion of Shravan Purnima coinciding with Raksha Bandhan festival.
The Government has made adequate security and other arrangements for the smooth conduct of yatra.
Meanwhile, yatris from different parts of country have started reaching Jammu as well as Kashmir valley to embark on annual pilgrimage of holy cave of Shri Amarnathji from tomorrow situated in snow bound hills in South Kashmir district of Anantnag at an altitude of 3880 meters.
As per reports, over 5000 pilgrims have reached Jammu by this evening who are all set to leave for darshan early tomorrow morning. Besides, the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas these pilgrims are putting up at various other places, lodges and hotels including Yatri Dhams in Jammu. Reports said that over 2000 pilgrims are alone staying at Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas. While 1648 pilgrims are staying inside the rooms of the Yatri Niwas and hundreds have taken shelter on Veranda and in the lawn of the Yatri Niwas.
The Government has opened online Registration counters for the pilgrims at different places in Jammu including at Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas.
The yatris are in high spirits as chants of “Bam Bam Bhole” and “Jai Barfani Baba ki” rented the air as hundreds of enthusiastic pilgrims unperturbed by the looming militancy threat arrived at Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas from early this morning amid tight security to start the journey for cave shrine tomorrow morning.
The devotees said their unflinching faith in Lord Shiva and the security forces has encouraged them to be the part of the annual pilgrimage this year after a gap of two years on account of COVID pandemic.
Meanwhile, multi tier security has been put in place in and around base camp , lodging centres, registration and token centres. Besides, over 5000 security personnel have been deployed in Jammu city as per official reports. Moreover multi tier security arrangements have been made enroute to cave shrine right form Lakhanpur -the gate way of J&K, officials said.
Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Ramesh Kumar, who took the stock of arrangements at Bhagwati Nagar today, said that all arrangements including the security are in place and 1500 to 2000 pilgrims will leave for holy cave in the first batch tomorrow morning. He said all security arrangements are in place right from Lakhanpur to holy cave. He said the full arrangements have been made for accommodating the pilgrims in Jammu and other districts enroute holy cave.
The Divisional Commissioner said the newly constructed Chanderkot Yatri Niwas in Ramban has a capacity of accommodating 3600 pilgrims. He said that all the yatris will be given tag and registration and no pilgrim without that will not be allowed to leave for the darshan.
Jammu and Kashmir Police have also issued special stickers for pasting them on vehicles ferrying pilgrims and no vehicle without HSRP will be allowed to proceed on the highway towards the cave shrine.
The officials have to verify documents of the vehicles carrying Amarnath pilgrims, following which a special striker will be issued and pasted on the windscreen to avoid any other check throughout the journey route, said a police official.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration have also barred non HSRP vehicles from carrying pilgrims.
“In past we have seen many vehicles with tempered number plates, prone to be use in terror related crimes, to check this, pilgrims are advised to travel only in HSRP fixed vehicles”, said a senior police official.
Additional security personnel from police, CRPF, CAPF, CISF, BSF and Army have been deployed within Jammu, peripheries and along Jammu-Srinagar National Highway for the smooth and safe conduct of the yatra.
Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir Police has called for better coordination to ensure an incident-free Amarnath yatra.
The Kashmir Valley is all set for the annual pilgrimage to Lord Shiva’s cave shrine, nestled in the Himalayas at an altitude of 13,000 feet, a police official said.
Two days ahead of the yatra, Inspector General of Police Kashmir, Vijay Kumar and Senior Superintendent of Police, Ashish Kumar Mishra visited the cave and the Yatri camp at Panjtarni.
They held a meeting with officers from the Army, CRPF, BSF, ITBP NDRF and the civil administration.
The Amarnath yatra will be conducted physically after a gap of two years. The authorities feel six to eight lakh pilgrims are expected to perform the annual trek this year.
The Army had a few days ago said there was an increased threat perception to the pilgrimage this year.
However, some pilgrims reaching here from different parts of the country alleged that they were facing lot of problems in getting themselves registered at Jammu. A group of eight pilgrims from Ujjain, MP said that they have been in the queue since 5 am today and up to 1 pm they could not get the registration. They alleged there are no proper arrangements and the people who came after them were allowed to enter inside and given registration slips while they are waiting. The authorities should look into this. “If this will be the position we have to return to Ujjain without darshan”, they added.
Neelu Gupta, who is visiting the holy cave for the first time said she does not feel any threat, “When Bhole Baba is there why to be afraid of any one. He (Baba) will take care of us”, she added.
Narinder Kumar, a pilgrim from MP who has visited 11 times to holy cave said he was totally disturbed during last two years when yatra was cancelled. He was eagerly waiting for darshan this time and he feels happy that he is leaving for the holy cave tomorrow. Another lady from Maharashtra Pooja Devi said that she has also visited the holy cave 11 times earlier and could not make it during last two years but now she thinks herself fortunate that Bhole Baba called her again for darshan. She said her team of 11 pilgrims feel no threat from any one as the Lord Shiva is there to take care of them.
As per official report, over 3.50 lakh pilgrims have registered themselves so far for the holy pilgrimage and authorities are expecting a record number of over seven lakh pilgrims to visit holy cave this year.
Some pilgrims have already reached Kashmir valley and 548 yatris are camping at Pantha Chowk Yatri Niwas in Srinagar while over 2000 unauthorised pilgrims have been stopped at Mirbazar, Anantnag and were not allowed to proceed further by the district administration. They have been accommodated in FCI building at Mirbazar, sources said.
The Government in view of yatra starting from tomorrow has issued advisory for traffic movement on National Highway also.
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