Offline registration for the annual Amarnath Yatra commenced on Wednesday, a day before Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha is scheduled to flag off the first batch of pilgrims from the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas base camp in Jammu early on Thursday.
The cavalcade of buses and private vehicles carrying the pilgrims will leave for Kashmir around 4 am under a multi-layered security cover in view of the terror threat.
Hundreds of devotees thronged the registration centres across Jammu despite overnight rain that brought respite from the heat. The registration centres echoed with chants of Har Har Mahadev and Bam Bam Bhole as pilgrims queued up for on-the-spot registration. Token distribution for pilgrims arriving from different parts of the country also continued for the second consecutive day.
Registration and token distribution counters have been set up on the Tawi riverfront near the Jammu Artificial Lake, Geeta Bhawan, Ram Mandir and Bhagwati Nagar.
Senior civil and police officers, including Divisional Commissioner Ramesh Kumar, Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Minhas and SSP Joginder Singh, visited the centres to review arrangements and crowd management measures. The officers also interacted with the pilgrims and directed officials to ensure smooth registration, orderly token distribution and adequate public facilities.
The 57-day pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre-high holy cave shrine will formally commence on July 3 from the twin base camps at Pahalgam in Anantnag district and Baltal in Ganderbal district. While the traditional Pahalgam route covers around 48 km, the Baltal route is approximately 14 km long.
Jammu has been witnessing a steady influx of pilgrims, including sadhus from different parts of the country, ahead of the commencement of the yatra. Around four lakh pilgrims from across the country have already registered for the yatra.
Meanwhile, Ganderbal Deputy Commissioner Jatin Kishore reviewed telecommunication arrangements and directed BSNL, Airtel and Jio to deploy dedicated technical teams along the Baltal route throughout the pilgrimage. He also instructed telecom operators to share the contact details of their nodal officers with the district administration to ensure prompt coordination in case of communication-related issues.
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Jammu, expressed confidence that the administration and security agencies had made comprehensive arrangements for the safety of the pilgrims. Chamber president Arun Gupta, however, urged the government not to “harass the local business community during the yatra period”, saying traders and entrepreneurs play a vital role in facilitating the smooth conduct of the pilgrimage and should be allowed to carry out their business activities without undue inconvenience while complying with the law.
