According to officials, a new batch of 4,758 pilgrims departed the base camp here on Monday for the Amarnath temple in the south Kashmir Himalayas. Until early Monday, around 20,000 pilgrims had paid their respects at the 3,880-metre-high cave temple.
The fourth group of pilgrims went in two convoys, guarded by eight security vehicles and an ambulance, between 3.40 and 4.10 a.m., according to officials. While 3,030 pilgrims followed the traditional Pahalgam path for their yatra, 1,728 used the shorter but more difficult Baltal route, they claimed.
Since June 30, when Lt Governor Manoj Sinha flagged off the first batch, a total of 17,565 pilgrims have departed the Jammu base camp for the valley. Mukesh Singh, the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) of Jammu, visited Ramban district on Sunday along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway and assessed security at the transit camp in Banihal and en route the shrine, according to a police official.
During the security assessment, the spokesman stated that brief conversations on various aspects of security were held at several deployment locations to safeguard community kitchens and lodgment sites. To guarantee a smooth yatra, the ADGP requested personnel from the police, army, CAPF, intelligence services, and civil administration to cooperate closely together.
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