48-day-long Amarnath yatra to start July 2

This year’s Amarnath yatra will be of 48 days only compared to last year’s 59 days. The concerned authorities said the yatra period has been curtailed “keeping in view the foremost concern of safety and security of pilgrims”. The yatra will commence on July 2, coinciding with Massik Shivratri, an auspicious day as per the Hindu calendar, and conclude on Shravan Purnima (Raksha Bandhan) on August 18, 2016, a Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board spokesman said on Thursday. Last year over 3,52,000 devotees paid obeisance at the cave temple, situated at an altitude of 12,729 feet in the Kashmir Himalayas. J&K governor N.N. Vohra, who is also SASB chairman, presided over its 30th meeting in New Delhi on Thursday where the yatra duration was decided and a series of other decisions were taken to ensure a smooth pilgrimage with better medical, travel and boarding and lodging facilities for devotees.

The meeting deliberated at length also on the number of pilgrims who would be allowed to register, date-wise and route-wise, for this year’s yatra, a SASB spokesman said. “Considering the present carrying capacity of the tracks, available infrastructure in the yatra area and all other relevant considerations, the board decided that, excluding yatris who would travel by helicopter on either route to Panjtarni, 7,500 pilgrims would be allowed to register for Yatra-2016 per day, per route basis,” he said. These are traditional the Pahalgam route through the south of the Valley, and the shorter Baltal route via capital Srinagar.

The spokesman said the board noted the steps taken by CEO P.K. Tripathi to rationalise the distribution of yatra permit forms for advance registration of pilgrims through 432 designated branches of Punjab National Bank, Jammu and Kashmir Bank and Yes Bank.