Press Trust of indiaJammu: Amid multi-tier security escort, the first batch of Amarnath pilgrims will depart for twin base camps in Kashmir from Jammu on Friday, marking the beginning of this year’s pilgrimage from here.
The comprehensive arrangements, including three-tier security, area dominations, elaborate route deployment and checkpoints have been put in place for a smooth Yatra.
The 52-day pilgrimage will commence from the twin tracks — the traditional 48-km Nunwan-Pahalgam route in Anantnag and the 14-km shorter but steep Baltal route in Ganderbal — on June 29. The Yatra will conclude on August 19.
“The first batch of the Yatra will leave Jammu base camp at Bhagwati Nagar for Kashmir at 0400 hours in the morning of Friday,” a senior officer told PTI.
He said the Yatra will be flagged off by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha from Yatri Niwas amid high security arrangements.
“Traffic restrictions will be imposed on various routes from June 28 to August 19, with daily advisories issued to minimise inconvenience,” he said, adding that cut-off timings have been fixed for each sector on the highway, which is monitored through CCTV surveillance.
For this, over 3,000 tokens have been handed over to the devotees travelling in the first batch for twin base camps of Pahalgam and Baltal in the Kashmir valley, the officials said.
Over 2,000 pilgrims have arrived at the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in Jammu, from where they will leave in escorted convoys for the base camps in north Kashmir’s Baltal and south Kashmir’s Anantnag, the officials said.
There is a huge rush of devotees arriving at the base camp, they added.
According to reports, over 3.50 lakh yatris have registered for this year’s Yatra. There are 125 community kitchens (langars) set up along the two routes to the cave shrine and supported by over 6,000 volunteers.
The administration on Thursday began the process for on-the-spot registration of devotees arriving here for the pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave shrine.
The LG, who is the chairman of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), reviewed the security and other arrangements in a high-level meeting and grassroot visits to various base camps in J&K.
Top officials led by Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo also visited the base camps and emphasised ensuring seamless facilities and services to the pilgrims, monitoring the control room 24×7 and publicising transport rates for taxis and three-wheelers.
The LG and the CS stressed the importance of an incident-free Yatra, urging the officials to maintain vigilance against anti-national elements and ensure coordinated responses.
Jammu has come under a security blanket with enhanced security measures, including a multi-layer security grid and the use of technology for surveillance.
A three-tier security system has been implemented around the Jammu base camp, with search and sanitisation operations being conducted to ensure safety, the officials said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah reviewed the security situation and arrangements for the Amarnath yatra on June 16 in the light of recent terror strikes in the Jammu region.
Amarnath Yatra: On-the-spot registration of pilgrims begins in Jammu
The administration on Thursday began the process for on-the-spot registration of devotees arriving here for the pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas.
Amid tight security arrangements, 1600 pilgrims have arrived at the Bhagwati-Nagar base camp here for their onward journey to Kashmir, officials said. Rush to throng basecamp is going on, they said.
Over 800 Sadhus, including women, have arrived at the traditional Ram Mandir and Geeta Bhawan and are upbeat to pay their obeisance at the 3,880-metre high holy cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas, housing the naturally formed ice-Shivling.
The 52-day pilgrimage will commence from the twin tracks –the traditional 48 km Nunwan-Pahalgam route in Anantnag and the 14 km shorter but steep Baltal route in Ganderbal — on June 29. The first batch of pilgrims will leave Jammu’s Bhagwati Nagar base camp and Ram Mandir for the valley on Friday.
While an on-the-spot registration centre has been set up for unregistered pilgrims in the Shalimar area of the city, a special camp for registration of sadhus has been set up at Purani Mandi-based Ram temple complex, officials said.
“On-the-spot registration has been started today for the unregistered pilgrims coming from different parts of the country”, Sub-divisional Magistrate (SDM) and In Charge of Mahajan Hall registration centre, Seema Parihar told PTI.
She said a quota has been fixed for the registration centres in Jammu and so far her centre has registered 358 unregistered pilgrims for the journey out of a total quota of 600 for the day.
She said all facilities for smooth registration have been put in place
Amid chants of ‘Bam Bam Bhole and Jai Jai Baba Barfani’, the Sadhus and Sadhvis are eagerly waiting for the Yatra to commence.
“The registration of sadhus has begun in Jammu today. All arrangements have been put in place for the best possible facilities for the sadhus”, another officer said.
As many as 170 sadhus and Sadivis have been registered for the Yatra, for their onward journey to Kashmir tomorrow. The enthusiasm among pilgrims and Sadhus arriving here for the pilgrimage was palpable.
On his 7th pilgrimage to the cave shrine, 52-year-old Nirotum Kumar of Uttar Pradesh said “Every year I undertake pilgrims to save the shrine on the first batch. It is my vow to travel in the first batch”.
He said that he had registered for Yatra and got the token. “I am happy to get a token for my trip to the abode of Bholenath. I am very happy”, he added.
Sunita Devi of Ajmer, who is on her pilgrimage to Amarnath for the fourth time, said that the registration process has improved from manual to online.
“Every year there is improvement in yatra arrangements. This has done away with the process of sitting in long queues in hot weather conditions”, she said.
Some sadhus who have arrived here after completing the Char Dham Yatra to Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath shrines in Uttarakhand, said that this is an annual feature to undertake yatra in a phased manner and concludes after darshan of Ice-lingam of Lord Shiva at Amarnath.
The shrine houses the naturally formed ice-Shiva Lingam and over 4.5 lakh pilgrims paid their obeisance at the 3,880 meter high shrine last year.
