J&K: Fresh batch of pilgrims leave Srinagar camp for Amarnath Yatra

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], July 11 (ANI): A fresh batch of pilgrims on Tuesday morning left from Srinagar Base Camp towards the twin routes of Baltal and Pahalgam for their onward pilgrimage to Amarnath cave shrine.

The pilgrims, who were excited about the journey, left Srinagar’s Pantha Chowk Yatra Base Camp in Jammu and Kashmir.
They raised ‘Bam Bam Bhole’ slogans before leaving for the Yatra.

The District administration is providing all facilities at the Base camp while being guided by police and security forces towards the ongoing journey.

Durgesh Shukla, a pilgrim from Uttar Pradesh’s Sultanpur district told ANI that the adminsitration has provided them with all facilities.

“I had left for Valley on July 7. The next day, I reached Jammu. Thereafter, I stayed at Ramban. We stayed at Hanuman Mandir for next two days after a road had caved in on a stretch in the Ramban District along the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway. Anyhow, I reached here in Srinagar after covering a distance through rail tracks on foot,” he explained.

“The army Jawans are providing every kind of support to the pilgrims,” he added.

While 500 pilgrims from Madhya Pradesh were stopped at a Lakhanpur town in the Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir in view of the bad weather conditions.

They said the district administration did not allow them to proceed towards the Jammu base camp. They have been put up at the lodgement centres set up inside the government Degree College Kathua, officials said.

Meanwhile, the Ramban District administration has arranged buses for stranded pilgrims following the closure of the Srinagar Jammu National Highway due to incessant rains over the last few days in the Union Territory.

Incessant rains, over the last few days, in various parts of Jammu and Kashmir, have caused unprecedented damage to National Highway – 44, especially to the stretch falling in Ramban district, forcing its closure for traffic, Ramban police said earlier.

Deputy Commissioner, Ramban earlier said, “Work at Seri, Ramban by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is underway to construct an emergency bypass to restore traffic on National Highway-44.”

Notably, the annual Amarnath Yatra began on July 1. The 62-day pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave, which is an abode of Lord Shiva, will culminate on August 31.