6K pray at shrine on Amarnath Yatra's first day

Srinagar: The annual Amarnath Yatra commenced on Thursday with as many as 11,288 devotees leaving the base-camps of Pahalgam and Baltal for the 12,729-foot-high cave-shrine in the Kashmir Himalayas. Till the evening, 6,097 of them had had darshan of the fully formed ice stalagmite, completely resembling Shiva-Linga.

A spokesperson of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) said that out of these pilgrims, 4,853 began the arduous journey through the hills from Pahalgam, and the others took the shorter Baltal route. One of the pilgrims, identified as Bushan Kotwal, a resident of Afgana Mohalla, Jammu, was injured when hit by a shooting stone while moving towards the cave-shrine from Baltal. He was rushed to the hospital at the base-camp where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival, the spokesman said.

Jammu and Kashmir governor, N.N. Vohra, who is also the chairman of the SASB, announced immediate relief of Rs 3 lakh in favour of the deceased pilgrim’s kin.

An ASI of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), on security duty for the Yatra at Baltal, also died following cardiac arrest, the police said. The 42-year-old ASI Sanjun Singh “suffered a massive heart attack at Bararimarg on the Baltal track,” said a police official.

At least, twelve pilgrims were injured when three vehicles collided at Lakhanpur, the entry point into Jammu and Kashmir, from Punjab. The officials said that a bus carrying Amarnath pilgrims from Uttar Pradesh collided head on with a truck and SUV near Golden Gate at Lakhanpur in Kathua district adding that they were treated at a nearby hospital.

The 40-day yatra formally began amid tightest-ever security with the Pratham Pooja held at the cave-shrine in which Vohra also participated and prayed for sustained peace, harmony, progress and prosperity in the State shortly after dawn on Thursday.

During his visit to Amarnath, the Governor reviewed the arrangements made for the pilgrims. “He stressed the need for effective supervision and round the clock monitoring by the camp directors and all the functionaries involved in the management of the yatra for ensuring smooth conduct of the pilgrimage”, the SASB spokesman said.

Union Home Secretary, Rajiv Mehrishim also visited Amarnath to oversee the security arrangement made for the yatra. Later during the day, he and the Governor closeted at Raj Bhavan here to discuss the yatra-related issues, the prevailing law and order and security situation in Jammu and Kashmir and other important matters. “The specifically discussed the situation and the issues particularly keeping in view the continuing attempts of infiltration and ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border (IB) with Pakistan and recurring incidents aimed to cause unrest in the hinterland,” said an official.

Mehrishi also called on Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti, at her official residence to discuss “several issues related to the overall situation in the State”.