A fresh batch of over 6,300 devotees left Jammu early Tuesday morning for the ongoing Amarnath Yatra, as the total number of yatris paying obeisance at the holy cave shrine crossed 2.20 lakh in 12 days.
“More than 2.20 lakh yatris have so far performed the Amarnath Yatra since it commenced on July 3,” an official said. Officials stated, “Another batch of 6,388 yatris left the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in two escorted convoys for the Valley today.”
The first escorted cavalcade of 103 vehicles carrying 2,501 yatris left at 3:26 am for the Baltal base camp, while the second escorted cavalcade of 145 vehicles carrying 3,887 yatris left at 4:15 am at an interval of 54 minutes.
The authorities have made extensive multi-tier security arrangements for this year’s yatra, as it takes place after the deadly Pahalgam terror attack in which terrorists shot dead 26 people, mostly tourists, in Baisaran meadow on April 22.
Officials said that since the yatra started on July 3, so far over 2.20 lakh pilgrims had ‘darshan’ inside the holy cave shrine. With this fresh departure, a total of over 95,000 pilgrims have left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu for the Kashmir Valley since Wednesday, after the yatra was flagged off by LG Manoj Sinha from Jammu.
The yatra goes on as usual, amid tight security arrangements, despite the April 22 Pahalgam attack. So far, more than 3.5 lakh people have registered online for the pilgrimage, while the numbers are likely to surge in the coming days after the J&K administration established special counters for offline registration.
Last year, more than 5.10 lakh yatris paid obeisance at the cave shrine.
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