Nuzhat Mushtaq
Jammu: The first batch of pilgrims for the Amarnath Yatra will depart from Jammu on Friday, June 28, marking the beginning of the annual pilgrimage to the holy cave shrine. The Yatra officially commences on June 29.
Pilgrims have already begun arriving at the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in Jammu, where they will be escorted in convoys to the Baltal base camp in north Kashmir and the Anantnag base camp in south Kashmir. The first batch will leave Jammu at 4 a.m. on Friday and will have their first darshan at the shrine on Saturday.
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Security has been heightened for the Yatra, with hundreds of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel deployed along the 300 km Jammu-Srinagar national highway. Additional CAPF teams are guarding the Srinagar-Baltal and Qazigund-Pahalgam base camp roads.
Transit camps have been established at Manigam in Ganderbal district on the Srinagar-Baltal route and at Mir Bazar on the Qazigund-Pahalgam route.
Over 3.50 lakh pilgrims have registered for this year’s Yatra. 125 community kitchens (Langars) have been set up along both routes, with over 7,000 volunteers serving pilgrims. Helicopter services are also available for pilgrims on both the Pahalgam and Baltal routes.
A total of 38 mountain rescue teams, comprising personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), local police, Border Security Force (BSF), and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), have been deployed for the Yatra.
Last year 4.4 lakh pilgrims paid obeisance at the Amarnath Shrine. As per Officials 48 people, including pilgrims and service providers, had died and 62 were injured due to weather-related events or natural causes of deaths.
