By Amit Khurana, Agence India Press
Jammu: With the Amarnath Yatra set to start on Thursday amid turmoil in the Kashmir Valley, authorities say foolproof arrangements are in place to protect the tens of thousands of pilgrims.
Amidst tense situation due to the curfew imposed in the Valley, the annual Amarnath Yatra today began under tight security cover with the first batch of 1,272 pilgrims leaving Jammu base camp for the cave shrine, located at 3,338 metre altitude, in south Kashmir Himalayas.
Amaranth Yatra commences under tight security [Photo: Jammu News Agency]
The yatra has begun from Jammu amid tension in the Valley. The first batch of 500 pilgrims left in a convoy escorted by heavy security. The DIG of Jammu, Farooq Khan said, that different security agencies are working together to ensure that there is no disturbance in the yatra.
Close to 3000 BSF cops have been airlifted to ensure the safety of the pilgrims. Several towns in the valley were put under curfew because of the security situation. Pilgrims however remained undeterred, vowing that they will continue the yatra. A multi-layer security arrangement is in place to provide security to the pilgrims. The entire route from the Jawahar Tunnel to the base camps of Nunwan in the south and Baltal in the north has been sanitized and 24-hour vigil is being maintained,’ said a senior police officer here.
The Army has been entrusted with security duties over the mountain tops. The Border Security Force (BSF) will secure the two routes of the north and south Kashmir and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) as well as the local police will guard the base and transit camps on the pilgrimage routes. Anantnag and Pahalgam towns fall on the Jammu-Pahalgam pilgrimage route while those taking the north Kashmir Baltal route to reach the cave shrine have to pass through Bijbehara, Awantipore and Pampore towns in the south.
Srinagar, Ganderbal and Kangan towns also fall on the route. Free kitchens will supply food for the pilgrims at the Manigam transit camp in north Kashmir’s Ganderbal district and at the base camp in Baltal. While talking to Agence India Press, a pilgrim told that, I felt authorities are helping us. “No there is nothing to fear. The situation there is always like this, and despite of this the scores of pilgrims are growing every year.
Although only 150,000 pilgrims have so far registered themselves, the number of pilgrims is expected to cross half a million mark this year.