Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, July 9: As Amarnath yatra resumed from here today after remaining suspended yesterday, 9,604 pilgrims paid obeisance at holy cave situated at an altitude of 3880 meters in deep Himalayas in South Kashmir district of Anantnag.
Since the two -month long yatra started on June 28 a total of 1,04,018 pilgrims have performed darshan of Ice Lingam in cave shrine during last 12 days.
Meanwhile, two Amarnath pilgrims died and five others were injured today in a road accident at Qazigund in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir while a volunteer died due to cardiac arrest at Sheshnag, taking the death toll in this year’s pilgrimage to 17.
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A private vehicle carrying six Amarnath pilgrims and the driver overturned at Zig Morh in Qazigund area while they were on their way to Srinagar from Jammu, a police official said.
While one pilgrim, Surinder Sindha from Ludhiana, died on the spot, another pilgrim Vinod Kumar succumbed to injuries while he was being taken to a hospital.
Five others, four pilgrims and the driver of the vehicle have been admitted in a local hospital in the area, official said.
Meanwhile, a 35-year-old Sevadar (volunteer), who was working at a community kitchen at Sheshnag, died due to cardiac arrest, the official said adding the deceased was identified as Ajay, a resident of Meerut, UP.
With these, the death toll in this year’s pilgrimage has gone up to 17.
The yatra from Jammu to holy cave which remained suspended yesterday due to second death anniversary of Hizbul militant, Burhan Wani started early this morning and 6,162 pilgrims left for Kashmir valley from Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas here, under multi tier security in 234 vehicles.
This is the highest number of pilgrims leaving for holy cave from here in a single day since the yatra started on June 27 from Jammu.
All these pilgrims were on their way to base camps of Nunwan -Pahalgam and Baltal, Nodal Officer for Amarnath Yatra, Arun Manhas said.
He said 7000 Amarnath bound pilgrims were camping at various lodges, hotels and community centers in Jammu. Out of them, 1800 pilgrims were camping in Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas. They will leave for Kashmir valley early tomorrow morning, he added.
Manhas said 3300 fresh registration of pilgrims was made at various registration counters of Jammu today. Reports reaching here from Kathua said 4500 pilgrims crossed Lakhanpur from other parts of country by this evening.
Despite the inclement weather and hazards created by rain during last week, the spirits of yatris have not dampened as thousands of Amarnath bound pilgrims are daily reaching Jammu from rest of country to visit the holy cave. This has happened despite the fact that thousands of pilgrims had to return without darshan from Baltal and Nunwan as they remained stranded there for days together after the blockade of Baltal track due to landslides and shooting stones.
A police officer said hundreds of vehicles carrying pilgrims from Baltal left for Srinagar today while scores of vehicles carrying pilgrims from rest of the country also reached Baltal by this evening. He said the track is through and movement of the pilgrims remained smooth during the day.
The stranded yatris at Baltal and Nunwan who reached here, today, however, criticized the authorities for poor arrangements. Ram Kumar, a pilgrim from Patna, Bihar said he has been constantly visiting holy cave for last seven years and he has never seen such poor arrangements as were made this time.
He said due to lack of arrangements, thousands of pilgrims were forced to return without darshan as they remained stranded for days together at Baltal, Nunwan and Chandanwari.
In a review meeting held at Srinagar today Umang Narula, CEO, and Bhupinder Kumar, Additional CEO of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, (SASB) informed Governor, N N Vohra, Chairman of the Board, that on the 12th day of the ongoing Yatra, 9,606 pilgrims paid obeisance at holy cave and till date, 1,04,018 pilgrims had performed darshan at the cave shrine.
The CEO further informed that during the initial 11 days since the start of the yatra, the movement of pilgrims from Jammu to Kashmir valley was suspended on three occasions due to rains and slippery track conditions on both the Yatra routes, and landslides and shooting stones between Railpathri and Brarimarg which resulted in accumulation of a large number of Yatris at Baltal and Nunwan base camps. The movement of Yatris was stopped from Jammu to the base camps of Baltal and Nunwan because of security concerns.
The Governor was further informed that keeping in view the safety of the pilgrims, Shri Amarnathji Yatra remained totally suspended on three occasions i.e. 30th June, 4th July and 5th July from both Baltal as well as Pahalgam routes and was suspended twice from Baltal route on 29th June and 6th July because of landslides, slippery tracks and shooting stones caused by incessant rainfall.
To ensure the safety and security of the pilgrims the CEO and the Additional CEO have been interacting daily with the officials of all the agencies engaged in the conduct of Yatra and particularly inquiring about the arrangements at the Shrine and at all the Yatra camps.
The CEO informed that SMSes to the registered yatris are being sent to make them aware about the arduous nature of yatra and, from today, a message in Hindi has also been forwarded to the yatris cautioning them to be careful of shooting stones while moving on the track through bulk SMSes.
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