1,000 pilgrims to be allowed in copters, 500 on foot per day

BALTAL ROUTE The curtailed pilgrimage is likely to be held from July 21 to August 3, pilgrims to carry Covid-19 reports

JAMMU: As many as 1,000 pilgrims in helicopters and 500 on foot will be allowed to undertake the Amarnath yatra daily via the Baltal track this year, as per officials in the Jammu and Kashmir administration.

Sources in the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) also said chief secretary BVR Subrahmanyam has decided that 1,000 pilgrims in helicopters and 500 on foot shall be allowed each day during the curtailed pilgrimage that is likely to be held from July 21 to August 3.

On Sunday, lieutenant governor GC Murmu had performed the ‘Pratham Aarti’ at the cave shrine. which was telecast live by the official broadcaster Prasar Bharati. The aarti will be telecast live till August 3.

Jammu and Kashmir chief secretary BVR Subrahmanyam on Saturday had said the Amarnath yatra this year will be undertaken in a restricted manner, so that the SOPs for Covid-19 are strictly followed. Also, pilgrims and volunteers will have to carry the latest Covid-19 negative reports.

On June 5, top officials of the SASB had performed the ‘Pratham Pooja’

Last year, the yatra was cut short following intelligence inputs of terror threats ahead of the Centre scrapping Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. In 2018, the pilgrimage was held for 60 days.

Thousands of pilgrims either trek the traditional and longer 45-km-long Pahalgam route or the shorter 16-km Baltal route to the holy shrine every year.

One of the holiest pilgrimages in Hinduism, the Amarnath Yatra attracts pilgrims from India as well as across the world. There have been terror attacks on the route of the yatra in the past.

The last attack took place in 2017 on a bus from Gujarat in Anantnag district that left seven pilgrims dead.

Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir high court has sought to know from the government about arrangements and various safety precautions on Amarnath Yatra in view of Covid-19 pandemic.

PRASAR BHARATI, INDIA’S OFFICIAL BROADCASTER, WILL TELECAST THE AARTI LIVE TILL AUGUST 3