Amarnath yatra concludes, over two lakh pay obeisance
SRINAGAR: Over 2.85 lakh pilgrims paid obeisance at the Amarnath cave shrine, situated at a height of 3,880 metres in south Kashmir Himalayas, as the two-monthlong annual Hindu pilgrimage concluded on Sunday.
The number of pilgrims visiting the shrine this year rose to 2,85,006 from 2,60,003 in 2017 and 2,20,490 in 2016. A record-breaking 6.35 lakh devotees had visited the cave in 2011, followed by 6.22 lakh in 2012.
The pilgrimage concluded peacefully this year, amid tight security. Some 238 companies of central security forces, along with the police and the army, guarded the pilgrimage.
The security was strengthened after a suspected militant attack on a bus in south Kashmir’s Anantnag claimed the lives of eight pilgrims last year.
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), along with the police, ensured sanitisation of roads, opening parties and accompanied the pilgrims from Jammu to the base camps in Kashmir. The army took charge of corridor protection and securing higher reaches.
The vehicles were radio tagged and CCTV cameras were installed along the routes.
Bad weather during the first week had dampened the initial enthusiasm of the pilgrims.
After a rush in the first month, the number of pilgrims reduced to a trickle in the second month, prompting calls for curtailment of the pilgrimage period, he added.
Bhupinder Kumar, additional chief executive officer of the Shri Amarnath Ji Shrine Board, along with Piyush Singla, deputy commissioner, Ganderbal, visited the shrine and reviewed the sanitation and camp cleaning initiatives early on Sunday, he said.