Amarnath Yatra resumes from Jammu, biggest batch of 7,993 pilgrims leaves for Kashmir

Jammu: The Amarnath Yatra resumed from Jammu on Sunday after a day-long suspension as a precautionary measure in view of a separatists-backed strike called on "Martyrs' Day" in the Kashmir valley, officials said.

Since its commencement on June 28, the pilgrimage was suspended from here for the fifth time on Saturday owing to the strike called by separatist groups. On July 8, it was suspended as a precautionary measure in view of the third death anniversary of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani.

The 13th batch of 7,993 pilgrims, the biggest so far, left Jammu for the twin base camps of Baltal and Pahalgam in Kashmir, the officials said. The pilgrims left in two convoys comprising 310 vehicles from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp under tight security arrangements early in the morning and were expected to reach their destinations in the valley later in the day, they added.

The officials said while 5,270 pilgrims opted for the traditional 36-km Pahalgam route in Anantnag district, 2,723 would take the shorter 12-km Baltal track in Ganderbal district. Over 1.75 lakh pilgrims have so far registered themselves for the 46-day long pilgrimage.

The journey towards the holy cave shrine, located at a height of 3,880 metres in the south Kashmir Himalayas, commenced on July 1 from both the Baltal and Pahalgam routes. Multi-tier security arrangements are in place for a smooth and successful conduct of the pilgrimage, scheduled to conclude on August 15. As many as 2.85 lakh pilgrims had paid obeisance at the holy cave shrine last year, while the figures were 3.52 lakh in 2015, 3.20 lakh in 2016 and 2.60 lakh in 2017.