Srinagar, Jul 17: On the 20th day of the ongoing Amarnath Yatra, 4140 pilgrims paid obeisance at the cave shrine taking the number of total pilgrims who have had ‘Darshan’ thus far to 2,01,582.
Governor NN Vohra, who is chairman of the Shari Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), also held a meeting at Raj Bhavan today to review the to-date status of the ongoing Amarnath Yatra, which commenced on 28th June 2018.
Umang Narula, CEO, and Bhupinder Kumar, Addl. CEO of the SASB, informed the Governor that due to the continuous rainfall overnight, the Yatra was suspended today from both the Pahalgam and Baltal routes. However, limited helicopter services operated from both Neelgrath and Pahlagam helipads.
Governor reiterated his earlier directions to the officials to closely monitor the Yatra, ensure effective coordination with all agencies involved in the conduct of pilgrimage, the safety and security of the pilgrims.
Earlier today, the 17th batch of pilgrims left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu for the cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas, police said.
“A total of 2,201 pilgrims, including 544 women and 149 Sadhus, left for Kashmir from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in a convoy of 74 vehicles, under tight security arrangements, in the wee hours today,” a police official said.
He added that this was the 17th batch of pilgrims to leave the Bhagwati Nagar base camp, taking the total number of pilgrims undertaking the pilgrimage under security arrangements to 63,314.
Till last evening, 1,97,442 pilgrims had paid obeisance at the cave shrine, officials said.
The 60-day annual Yatra began on the twin routes of Baltal in Ganderbal and Pahalgam in Anantnag on June 28 and is scheduled to conclude on August 26, coinciding with ‘Raksha Bandhan’.
