600 pilgrims leave for Amarnath cave shrine

JAMMU: Nearly 600 pilgrims left the Yatri Niwas base camp at Bhagwati Nagar for the cave shrine of Amarnath in the south Kashmir Himalayas on Saturday.

“A total of 597 pilgrims of the 30th batch left base camp Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in a convoy of 30 vehicles heavy CRPF security this morning,” said a duty officer at the Yatri Niwas control room, adding, “As many as 155 pilgrims, who opted for the Baltal route, were the first to leave in eight vehicles, followed by the second convoy of 22 vehicles carrying 442 pilgrims for the Pahalgam route. The convoys left around 4.20am.”

Senior superintendent of police (SSP, traffic) Shabir Malik said that following improvement in the weather, the 270- km long Jammu-Srinagar national highway was opened for traffic without any major hiccups. “The yatra convoy from Jammu to the holy cave crossed Jawahar Tunnel. Though there are some stretches, where traffic is still one-way but traffic movement has not been suspended,” he said.

The number of pilgrims visiting the cave shrine has drastically fallen in the past three days, mostly due to inclement weather conditions, officials said, adding that Saturday saw the lowest number of pilgrims leaving for the cave shrine in the last one week.

The annual 43-day Amarnath Yatra commenced from twin base camps — the traditional 48-km Nunwan-Pahalgam in south Kashmir’s Anantnag and 14-km shorter Baltal in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal — on June 30.

900 devotees leave for Buddha Amarnath shrine

Meanwhile, amid tight security, another batch of over 900 pilgrims on Saturday left for Buddha Amarnath shrine in Poonch district’s Mandi area from the base camp in Jammu. The Buddha Amarnath Yatra resumed on Friday after a gap of two years due to the Covid pandemic.