Banihal, Jul 27: The annual Shri Amarnath Yatra continued smoothly on Monday as 3,823 pilgrims left the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in Jammu for the Baltal base camp in Kashmir under tight security arrangements.
According to the Joint Police Control Room, Bhagwati Nagar, the 20th batch departed at 2:47 am in a convoy of 140 vehicles, including 82 buses, 20 medium motor vehicles (MMVs) and 38 light motor vehicles (LMVs).
The batch comprised 2,882 male pilgrims, 838 female pilgrims, two children, 84 sadhus and 17 sadhvis. No pilgrims were scheduled to travel via the Pahalgam axis on Monday.
The convoy travelled along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway under multi-tier security provided by the Jammu and Kashmir Police, CRPF and other security agencies. Traffic officials facilitated the movement of the convoy through vulnerable stretches of the highway to ensure the safe passage of pilgrims.
Officials said that with the departure of Monday’s batch, the cumulative number of pilgrims undertaking the annual pilgrimage from Bagwati Nagar base camp Jammu has reached 1,27,326.
The annual pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre-high holy cave shrine in the Himalayas has been progressing under elaborate security and logistical arrangements, with authorities closely monitoring weather conditions and highway status to ensure the safety of the pilgrims.
Meanwhile, A total of 4,331 pilgrims returned to Jammu from the Baltal base camp on Monday as the 19th down convoy of the Shri Amarnath Yatra left at 6:00 am under tight security.
According to officials, the convoy comprised 129 vehicles, including 96 HMVs, eight MMVs, 15 LMVs and 10 motorcycles. The returning pilgrims included 3,440 men, 838 women, four children, 42 sadhus and seven sadhvis.
