Umaisar Gull Ganie
Srinagar, Jul 08: The annual Amarnath Yatra continues to witness a massive rush of devotees as over 1.11 lakh pilgrims have performed the darshan at the holy cave shrine in the first six days of the pilgrimage, while more than four lakh people have registered so far.
Officials informed the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that a total of 93,342 pilgrims had visited the holy cave shrine till July 7. On the sixth day of the Yatra (today), an additional 18,633 pilgrims performed darshan, taking the cumulative total to 1,11,975.
Today’s figure includes 13,010 males, 4,118 females, 256 children, 174 sadhus, 26 sadhvis, 2 transgender pilgrims, and 347 security personnel.
Officials said the Yatra is proceeding smoothly from both Pahalgam and Baltal routes amid tight security and favourable weather conditions. They said the 7th batch of 7,541 pilgrims, including 5,516 men and 1,765 women, left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu in 309 vehicles for the twin base camps in Kashmir amid tight security arrangements on Tuesday morning.
“A total of 4,05,817 pilgrims have registered for the ongoing Amarnath Yatra so far. The number of casualties recorded to date stands at four, mainly due to health-related issues such as cardiac arrest, which are often triggered by low oxygen concentration at higher altitudes,” an official said.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said on Tuesday that more than 1 lakh devotees have visited the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in the first six days of the annual pilgrimage. “The journey of faith, holy Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra has surpassed 1 lakh pilgrims within the first six days of pilgrimage,” Sinha said in a post on X.
He said the Yatra is continuing smoothly on both the Pahalgam and Baltal routes and is expected to draw more devotees in the coming days.
Moreover, Director General of Police (DGP), Jammu and Kashmir, Nalin Prabhat, conducted a comprehensive security review along the Baltal axis on Tuesday.
The DGP assessed the deployment and operational preparedness of forces guarding the Yatra route. “DGP J&K Shri Nalin Prabhat alongwith IGP Kashmir, DIG Central Kashmir Range & senior officers conducted #security review of ongoing #yatra along the Baltal axis today. The officers later reviewed the security and pilgrim facilities at #Shadipora, #Manigam and #Baltal Yatra camps,” Kashmir Zone Police post on X.
The pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine of Lord Shiva in the south Kashmir Himalayas started on July 3 and will conclude on August 9—(KNO)
