First batch of 1,282 pilgrims -- 900 males, 225 females, 13 children, 144 sadhus—was flagged off by the Jammu and Kashmir deputy chief minister Dr Nirmal Singh from base camp in Jammu.
Spurt in terror attacks notwithstanding, the annual Amarnath yatra took off from the Jammu base camp amid tightest security on Friday.
First batch of 1,282 pilgrims -- 900 males, 225 females, 13 children, 144 sadhus—was flagged off by the Jammu and Kashmir deputy chief minister Dr Nirmal Singh from base camp in Jammu.
A 33 pilgrim vehicle- convoy was escorted by heavy contingent of the security forces when it was flagged off on early Friday morning. The pilgrims will be flagged off from Baltal and Pahlagam base camps on Saturday morning for their onward journey to the holy cave shrine in the Himalayas.
Situated in a narrow gorge at the altitude of 3,888 meters, the holy Amarnath cave is accessible from two routes in Kashmir valley.
The 46 kilometer Pahalgam – Holy cave trek is an ancient pilgrimage route which is covered in five days. And there lies the ice lingam of Lord Shiva formed naturally that waxes and wanes with the moon. The new 14 kilometer Baltal-Holy cave route is now preferred by the pilgrims since it is shorter though steep and journey can be completed in a day.
"The state government and Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) have made elaborate arrangements for the pilgrims. Special enquiry centres have also been set up by police and other agencies for providing all type of information to the pilgrims," said Dr Singh.
Terror attacks particularly on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway has prompted the security forces to beef up the security on the yatra route to ensure peaceful and incident free pilgrimage this year.
Three tier security arrangements have been made to ensure hassle-free yatra. CCTV surveillance, area domination, specialised road opening techniques and round the clock monitoring is all planned for the 48 days yatra.
More than 125 additional companies of paramilitary forces will be deployed en route to cave shrine. Several National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams will also be deployed to meet exigency, if any, during the 48 days yatra period.
The central forces are in addition of the existing manpower available in the state. Indian army has been entrusted the job of area domination and securing the upper reaches around the cave shrine. ITBP men will also be deployed on the important axis en route to holy cave.
Paramilitary forces and army troops would also be deployed on the highway to ensure security of the pilgrim buses. Laced with state of the art equipments the forces would be conducting anti IED drive round the clock to keep militants at bay and ensure smooth convoy movement.
Pilgrim convoy will be escorted by the paramilitary forces from Jammu base camp right up to the Pahalgam and Baltal base camps.Jammu and Kashmir police will be entrusted the job of securing the areas from Pahalgam and Baltal base camps up to the cave shrine.
"Adequate security mechanism has been put in place to ensure the safety of the visiting pilgrims and the tourists in the state. Concerned agencies are working in synergy to ensure adequate security and logistic arrangements are put in place during the Yatra", said Dr Singh.
Meanwhile Lieutenant General DS. Hooda, general officer commander in chief (GoC-in- C) of Northern Command and Lieutenant General Satish Dua, GOC 15 Corps, called on Governor N.N. Vohra and discussed the security arrangements for the Amarnath Yatra.
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