STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: A fresh batch of over 1,600 pilgrims on Wednesday early morning left from the Jammu base camp for the Amarnath cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas amid tight security, officials said. This year’s yatra has already crossed the 4.5 lakh-mark of last year, with over 4.7 lakh pilgrims so far paying obeisance at the naturally-formed ice lingam at the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine, they said.
The 34th batch of 1,654 pilgrims left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp at 3.25 am in a convoy of 51 vehicles escorted by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and police, the officials said. While 1,198 pilgrims will reach Pahalgam to undertake the annual pilgrimage through the traditional 48-km route in Anantnag district, 456 have opted for the shorter but steeper 14-km Baltal route in Ganderbal district.
Since June 28, when Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha flagged off the first batch from Jammu, a total of 1,41,947 pilgrims have embarked from the Jammu base camp. The yatra commenced on June 29 and is scheduled to conclude on August 19.
