SRINAGAR: The annual Shri Amarnath Yatra continued on Sunday with 4,474 pilgrims departing from the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in Jammu for the Baltal base camp under stringent security arrangements, officials said.
According to the Joint Police Control Room, Base Camp Bhagwati Nagar, the 19th batch left at 2:42 a.m. in a convoy of 166 vehicles, comprising 93 buses, 26 mini-buses and 47 light motor vehicles. No convoy was operated on the Pahalgam route.
The batch comprised 3,531 men, 785 women, 96 sadhus, 51 sadhvis, 10 children and one transgender pilgrim.
With the departure of the latest convoy, the cumulative number of pilgrims who have undertaken the pilgrimage this year has risen to 1,23,503.
The Yatra resumed on Saturday after remaining suspended for six days due to persistent rainfall that triggered landslides, mudslides and shooting stones at several vulnerable stretches along National Highway-44. The highway, which had remained closed for three days, was reopened to traffic on Friday, allowing the annual pilgrimage to recommence.
