Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, July 26: On 25th day of Shri Amarnathji Yatra 2,512 pilgrims paid obeisance of naturally formed ice lingam at holy cave of Swami Amarnath Ji situated at an altitude of 13,000 feet in South Kashmir district of Anantnag taking the total number of pilgrims who performed darshan till date at holy cave to 2,07,842.
Meanwhile an Amarnath pilgrim was killed and nine other people including four locals were injured today when a parked van rolled down into 45 meters deep gorge in Pahalgam area of Kashmir, police said.
The vehicle which was stationed at a parking lot , went down the gorge at Chandanwari area after the driver failed to apply hand brake, the police said.
All the 10 people were rushed to district Hospital Anantnag where one of them succumbed to his injuries, later. He has been identified as Girdhari Lal, 65, son of Panna Lal of district Dhar, Madhya Pradesh. With this the death toll in ongoing yatra has touched to 19. The Governor, N N Vohra who is also the chairman of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) has sanctioned Rs one lakh as ex-gratia for the next kin of deceased.
Later, seven seriously injured persons were rushed to Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Soura for specialized treatment while two were admitted in DH Anantnag.
Police said this morning a Maruti Eeco Van carrying ten passengers of whom six were yatris and four locals, plunged into Liddar Nallah at Chandanwari, near the Access Control Gate. A Yatri, Girdhari Lal son of Panna Lal, age 65 years, of District Dhar, Madhya Pradesh, lost his life in this accident. Seven seriously injured passengers, namely. Najma Begum and Gulzari Bibi residents of Chandanwari and Yatris, Madan Singh son of Amar Singh; Dev Karan son of Kailash, Narmada wife of Dev Karan; Shanker Giri son of Bola Giri, all residents of Madhya Pradesh, and Venu Gopal Rao of Bangalore, were air lifted by the Shrine Board, to SKIMS, Srinagar for specialized treatment.
Atul Gupta, Camp Director Chandanwari, and Shiv Kumar Gupta, Camp Director Pahalgam, coordinated the immediate rescue and relief measures with the assistance of officers of J&K Police, CRPF, Army and Health Department available at Chandanwari and Pahalgam.
On the directions of the Governor N.N. Vohra, Chairman of Amarnathji Shrine Board, CEO, P.K. Tripathi, immediately contacted the State Secretary Health and Director SKIMS, Srinagar, and secured all required help for the immediate treatment of the injured persons. The Governor has also directed CEO to also arrange to send all the injured pilgrims home by air, as soon as they are discharged. The next of kin of the deceased pilgrim has been contacted and the Shrine Board is arranging to send the dead body by air to the deceased’s family.
Governor has also ordered an ex-gratia relief of Rs. 1.00 lakh in favour of the next of kin of the deceased.
Meanwhile, 1088 pilgrims left from base camp of Baltal to holy cave today while 1393 pilgrims reported at Baltal, this morning from Jammu, an official spokesman said. He said 664 pilgrims left from Chandanwari to holy cave today by foot and they included 412 pilgrims who were staying at Nunwan base camp for night. In addition to it, 61 pilgrims left via chopper to holy cave from Pahalgam while 66 pilgrims returned to Pahalgam by chopper after darshan, spokesman added.
He said 189 passengers are staying for night at Nunwan base camp while weather on yatra tracks for the day was cloudy and it also drizzled on both the tracks and at holy cave during the day for some time. However, the yatra plied normally.
A fresh batch of 596 yatris left for holy cave from Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas here today under tight security arrangements in a cavalcade of 27 buses. These pilgrims had reached near Jawahar tunnel till last reports came in and were on their way to two base camps of Nunwan-Pahalgam and Baltal in Kashmir valley.
This was the lowest batch of pilgrims leaving fro holy cave from Jammu since the 48 day long yatra started on July 1 from here.
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