Amarnath Yatra: J&K administration to house 50,000 pilgrims in lodgement centres

The Jammu and Kashmir administration has made arrangements to house over 50,000 pilgrims in various lodgement centres across the Jammu region for their comfortable pilgrimage to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in the South Kashmir Himalayas beginning July 3, officials said.

The 38-day-long Amarnath Yatra is scheduled to start on July 3 from the twin routes — the traditional 48-kilometre Pahalgam route in Anantnag district and the shorter but steeper 14-kilometre Baltal route in Ganderbal district — leading to the 3,880-metre-high holy cave shrine. The first batch of pilgrims will leave for Kashmir from the Jammu-based Bhagwati Nagar base camp a day before the start of the Yatra.

"Arrangements have been made to provide boarding and lodging facilities for over 50,000 people at various lodgement centres across the Jammu region, from Lakhanpur to Banihal. A total of 106 lodgement centres have been set up for the purpose," Divisional Commissioner Ramesh Kumar told reporters here.

These arrangements have been made by the district administrations of Kathua, Samba, Jammu, Udhampur and Ramban besides the police wings, he said.

He said community kitchens have been established with the support of voluntary organisations to provide food to the pilgrims in Kathua, Samba, Jammu, Udhampur and Ramban districts. "Sanitation facilities including toilet setup have been made at all lodgement centres in these districts too," he said.

Boarding and lodging centres have been created in Jammu city to accommodate the pilgrims in support with social organisations, he said.

Kumar said the Yatra will commence from Jammu on July 2 and Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha will flag it off from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp amid tight security arrangements. "The Yatra will formally start from Kashmir on July 3." In addition to regular registration counters, there will also be a facility for tatkal (on-the-spot) registration, which will be available at the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine, he said.

"This registration will be done based on a daily quota. There are five registration centres for this. Pilgrims who have completed their registration will be issued RFID cards for the Yatra. These RFID cards can be obtained from the Lakhanpur entry point, Samba, Jammu, Chanderkote and Banihal centres," he said.

On including all pilgrims in the Yatra convoy, he said those who have their own vehicles and are associated with the Yatra will also move along with the convoy after fulfilling all necessary formalities. Kumar said those who want to travel by private vehicles will also proceed to Kashmir under security cover. "An advisory has been issued stating that even individual pilgrims coming from outside will have to proceed along with the convoy." All of them will check in at the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu, from where they will leave daily in a convoy protected by security personnel, he said.

The divisional commissioner said this time the Amarnath Yatra will not involve travel by train. "All the arrangements for the Yatra have been completed." The Divisional Commissioner added that in case of bad weather or the closure of the highway, control rooms have been set to provide information to travellers in real time.

He said arrangements have also been put in place for various other yatras in the region, particularly the Budha Amarnath pilgrimage in Poonch.