6619 pilgrims leave Jammu for cave shrine

Jammu, June 30: Third batch, comprising 6619 Shri Amarnath pilgrims, Sunday embarked on holy pilgrimage to the cave shrine nestled in South Kashmir, from Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu.

Since the commencement of Yatra, this has been the highest number of pilgrims embarking on Yatra from Jammu base camp. They left in a fleet of 319 vehicles.

Officials said, “Of 6619 pilgrims, 3838 pilgrims, comprising 3037 males, 633 females, 7 children, 126 Sadhus and 35 Sadhvis left for Pahalgam route in 168 vehicles while 2781 including 2106 males, 508 females and 11 children besides Sadhus and Sadhvis, left for Baltal route to the holy pilgrimage in 151 vehicles.

Meanwhile, Jammu is witnessing heavy rush of pilgrims at different places across the city, particularly outside registration counters. Given the heavy influx, yatris are facing inconvenience in getting yatra slips. They maintain that they have to wait for hours and even for a day or two to get Yatra slips in hot, sultry weather.

Some have demanded improvement in facilities, which they feel are inadequate for the growing rush of pilgrims at Yatri Bhawan and other places.

However, district administration Jammu has stated that a definite number of tokens for the Amarnath Yatra are issued daily on a first-come, first-serve basis and the district administration is closely monitoring the process to ensure fairness and transparency.

“There is no scope for malpractice or favouritism. The presence of police personnel is solely for crowd management and to prevent any untoward incidents," it said.