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Batch of 5954 pilgrims leaves Jammu

KT NEWS SERVICE. Dated: 7/10/2019 11:19:21 AM

JAMMU, Jul 9: Amarnath yatra, after having remained suspended for a day due to separatists’ shutdown call in Kashmir, resumed from Jammu Tuesday with a fresh batch of 5,964 pilgrims leaving Bhagwati Nagar base camp for holy cave shrine in south Kashmir.
Braving rains which lashed wide parts of Jammu, the ninth batch of 5,964 pilgrims left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in a fleet of 254 vehicles under tight security cover early this morning. The batch reached the Valley later in the day, the officials said.
They said this batch has the highest number of pilgrims who left for the yatra in a single day so far.
In Tuesday's batch, 3997 pilgrims, including 640 women, 15 children and 286 seers left for Pahalgam to undertake the pilgrimage from the traditional 36-km track, while 1967 pilgrims, including 403 women, eight children and 47 seers opted for the shorter 14-km Baltal track.
The 46-day yatra, which started from the twin tracks of Pahalgam in Anantnag district and Baltal in Ganderbal district on July 1, crossed the one lakh-mark on Monday.
The yatra was suspended on Monday owing to general strike called by separatists in the valley to mark the third death anniversary of former Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. No new batch was sent from Jammu on Monday though the pilgrims, who had already reached Baltal and Pahalgam or were stranded there, were allowed to proceed towards the cave shrine.
With today’s batch, a total of 42,273 pilgrims have left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp since the commencement of the yatra from Jammu on June 30, a day ahead of the official start of the annual pilgrimage in Kashmir valley.
In the meanwhile, on the 9th day of the ongoing pilgrimage, 9,541 Yatris today paid obeisance, an official spokesman said this evening. He said till date 1,21,196 Yatris had the darshan of the holy Shivling since the commencement of the annual pilgrimage from July 1.