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17th batch of Amarnath pilgrims leaves Jammu

KT NEWS SERVICE. Dated: 7/19/2019 10:35:47 AM

2,32,860 Yatris pay obeisance so far

JAMMU, Jul 18: 17th batch of 4,167 Amarnath pilgrims left Bhagwati Nagar base camp amid tight security here on Thursday for cave shrine in south Kashmir, officials said.
The fleet of vehicles ferrying pilgrims was escorted by CRPF personnel in jeeps and on motorbikes. This batch of 4,167 pilgrims comprised 3,211 males, 790 females, 25 children, 140 seers and one transgender.
For Pahalgam route, 2,634 pilgrims including 2087 male, 397 females, 14 children, 140 sadhus and one transgender left the base camp in 98 vehicles and for Baltal, 1,533 pilgrims including 1124 male, 398 females and 11 children left in 71 vehicles including buses and LMVs. Total 169 vehicles left the base camp for both the routes including 73 HMVs, 95 LMVs and a motorcycle.
Over 2.30 lakh pilgrims from across the country have so far registered themselves for the 46-day long pilgrimage, which takes place from the twin tracks -- traditional 36-km Pahalgam in Anantnag district and 14-km shorter Baltal in Ganderbal district.
With this, a total of 84,348 pilgrims have so far left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp since the commencement of the yatra from Jammu on June 30, a day ahead of the official start.
The first batch was flagged off from here on June 30 by the Advisor to Governor K K Sharma. Multi-tier security arrangements have been made for smooth and successful conduct of 46-day long Yatra concluding on August 15 on the occasion of Sharavan Purnima (Rakshabandhan).
In the meanwhile, on the 18th day of the ongoing Yatra, 13,849 Yatris paid obeisance at the holy cave. Till date 2,32,860 Yatris had the darshan of the Shivling at the holy cave.
As many as 2.85 lakh pilgrims paid obeisance at the cave last year, while the number of pilgrims was 3.52 lakh in 2015, 3.20 lakh in 2016 and 2.60 lakh in 2017.