SRINAGAR: In a first, a record-breaking number of pilgrims from different parts of the country have visited the Amarnath holy cave to perform darshan in the first ten days of the pilgrimage.
According to the details, over one lakh pilgrims have visited the holy cave in the first ten days of the pilgrimage. The record-breaking turnout has been witnessed despite the pilgrimage remaining suspended for two straight days due to inclement weather conditions.
The total number of pilgrims performing darshan of the naturally formed Ice Lingam in the cave shrine since the commencement of the yatra on July 1 has reached 1,18,157, according to officials. “About 24,228 pilgrims performed darshan today until 08:00 pm.”
The annual Amarnath Yatra has remained suspended from Jammu City for the third straight day on Monday.
“No fresh batch of pilgrims was allowed to leave the Yatri Niwas base camp at Bhagwati Nagar for the onward journey to the holy cave due to extensive damage caused to a section of the Jammu-Srinagar Highway in Ramban.
“Over 7,000 pilgrims are stranded at Jammu’s Bhagwati Nagar base camp, 5,000 at the Chanderkot base camp in Ramban district, and thousands of pilgrims who performed darshan are stranded at Yatri Niwas FCI Mir Bazar and Walnut factory Qazigund,” an official said.
He said due to the closure of the highway, the district administration of Kulgam has created additional accommodation of 500 beds at Vessu for stranded Yatris to avoid any inconvenience to them.
Meanwhile, the traffic advisory issued by the traffic department states that the Srinagar-Jammu highway will be reopened for traffic on Wednesday and will remain closed tomorrow.
“Collective efforts from the administration and NHAI, put in throughout the day, resulted in substantial improvement in the road condition. However, complete restoration is expected to take some more time,” the police said in a statement. “Accordingly, it has been decided by the Administration to keep the traffic on the Highway suspended for tomorrow as well, i.e., 11.07.2023 (Tuesday). HMVs have been advised to take the Mughal Road for journeys from Jammu to Srinagar and vice versa.”
“Traffic is likely to resume on 12.07.2023 (Wednesday), however, the next update will be issued tomorrow evening.”
Meanwhile, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar Bidhuri, told KNO that a record-breaking number of over one lakh pilgrims have performed the yatra so far.
“We are breaking all records of development. We have crossed the figure of one lakh pilgrims till today,” he said, adding that the Yatra remained suspended for a couple of days; otherwise, the number could have been higher in the first ten days. (KNO)
