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Jammu, Baltal routes opened to
Amarnath pilgrims
Jammu: Routes from Jammu and Baltal base camps to the Amarnath cave shrine opened on Thursday after being suspended for three days due to blocks caused by landslides and snowfall. According to official sources, nearly, 4371 pilgrims left for the cave shrine from the Baltal base camp and another batch of 84 pilgrims were flown to the cave in choppers. The official also confirmed that around 1838 pilgrims had returned to Pahalgam on Thursday morning after visiting the shrine. Earlier, on Wednesday, the Pahalgam-Amarnath route was opened after the yatra was stopped on Saturday, allowing about 2,000 pilgrims to proceed towards the shrine. Meanwhile, to review the arrangements made for the pilgrims on route to Amarnath, Jammu and Kashmir Governor Lt Gen (retd) SK Sinha today visited Sheshnag and Pahalgam areas, which falls on the route to the Amarnath cave shrine.
According
to official sources, ample arrangement has been made to meet the requirements
in the next few days to accommodate about 6000 to 8000 pilgrims. Arrangements
for sanitation facilities had also been made. The Baltal-Amarnath route
which is nearly 14 kilometers is the shortest to the cave shrine. While
the route to Amarnath remains slippery and dangerous, it is not enough
to discourage the faithful. Reports say that snow and rain at several
places along the route has made the difficult journey to Amarnath still
more dangerous. The pilgrimage was suspended for three days since Sunday
due to land-slides caused by incessant rains and heavy snow at several
places along the track to the holy cave shrine. Thousands of pilgrims
were stranded at both the base camps and awaiting clearance from authorities
to proceed to Amarnath. Over 9,000 pilgrims have visited the shrine so
far since 10th June.
-June 15, 2006
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