6400 more leave from Jammu in 2 convoys
Yatri from UP dies at Sheshnag
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 4: On Day 2 of annual pilgrimage of Shri Amarnath Ji in South Kashmir Himalayas; 14,515 devotees performed darshan of holy Ice Lingam of Lord Shiva today while third batch of 6400 yatris left Bhagwati Nagar base camp here early this morning for Baltal and Nunwan and reached safely there tonight.
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Officials told the Excelsior that 14,515 pilgrims paid obeisance to Lord Shiva’s Ice Lingam in the cave shrine during the day today taking total number of yatris performing darshan during last two days to 26,863.
Among those who had darshan today were 11,440 males, 2426 females, 91 children, 179 Sadhus, 42 Sadhvis, nine transgenders and 328 security personnel.
A pilgrim from Uttar Pradesh died after falling unconscious at Sheshnag base camp. He has been identified as Dileep Srivastav, a resident of Lakhimpur Kheri, UP. He fell unconscious at Sheshnag and was immediately shifted to the hospital set up there where he passed away.
This was the first yatra-related casualty on the track.
Earlier in the day, the pilgrims left from Baltal and Nunwan (Pahalgam) base camps for the cave shrine. They had reached the base camps last night. The yatra progressed smoothly during the day with weather fine along both the tracks.
Meanwhile, third batch of over 6,400 pilgrims left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu in two separate convoys early this morning for Baltal and Nunwan from where they will begin the pilgrimage tomorrow morning.
The third batch of 6,411 pilgrims – 4,723 men, 1,071 women, 37 children, and 580 Sadhus and Sadhvis – left in 291 vehicles, the officials said.
The batch left the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in two groups for Baltal and Pahalgam at 3.15 am and 4 am, escorted by police and paramilitary forces.
While 3,622 pilgrims took the 48-kilometre traditional Pahalgam route in 138 vehicles, 2,789 pilgrims, ferried in 153 vehicles, took the shorter but steeper 14-kilometre Baltal route.
With the fresh departure, a total of 17,549 pilgrims have left the Jammu base camp for the Valley since Wednesday, when Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha flagged off the yatra from here.
Yatra goes on as usual, albeit in tighter security, despite the April 22 Pahalgam attack in which 26 civilians including 25 tourists and a local were gunned down by the terrorists.
The Bhagwati Nagar base camp has been put under a multi-tier security cover.
More than 3.5 lakh people have registered online for the pilgrimage so far.
Thirty-four accommodation centres have been set up across Jammu, and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags are being issued to the pilgrims. Twelve counters have been set up for on-the-spot registration of pilgrims.
Heavy rush is being witnessed at on-spot registration counters set up at three places here in the City. A large number of devotees are reaching Jammu from different parts of the country for undertaking pilgrimage to holy cave shrine of Baba Amarnath Ji. Majority of them are registered. However, the yatris who are reaching unregistered are being offered facility of on-spot registration at three places.
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