SRINAGAR/JAMMU: With 17202 yatris paying obeisance at the Shri Amarnathji Holy Cave on Thursday, the cumulative total of pilgrims reached to 84768 on the seventh day of yatra, even as another batch of over 6,500 Amarnath Yatra pilgrims left Jammu in the early hours of Thursday and reached at the twin base camps in Kashmir amid tight security by evening.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha also launched various initiatives to make the annual Amarnath Yatra a zero-landfill pilgrimage and said that the Zero-waste pilgrimage was the resolve of his administration.
On Thursday, 17202 yatris paid obeisance at the Shri Amarnathji Holy Cave, taking the total number of pilgrims who have had the darshan at the shrine to 84768 in the first seven days of yatra.
Among the pilgrims who visited Holy Cave were 12408 males, 4095 females, 490 children, 192 Sadhus and 17 Sadvis, officials said.
The influx of yatries continue to surge with each passing day making it one of the most successful yatra in the country, they added.
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Thursday launched various initiatives to make the annual Amarnath Yatra a zero-landfill pilgrimage.
These initiatives of the Rural Development Department include use of cloth bags, yatra anthem for sustainable and responsible tourism, MIS portal and web app for waste process monitoring, an official spokesman said.
“Zero-waste pilgrimage is our resolve. Sincere efforts are being made to transform information, education and communication campaign into behavioral change communication and also to create an effective model for solid waste management,” Sinha said.
With the help of volunteers, IEC campaign and seamless coordination at four different stages of solid waste management, our aim is to evoke profound responsibility towards environment, protection of natural heritage and the sustainable use of natural assets, he said.
“Swachh Campaign for this year’s Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra signifies government’s commitment to safeguard spiritual, cultural, economic and ecological values,” Sinha said.
The Rural Development Department is working in partnership with ‘Swaaha Resource Management’, while the yatra anthem is sung by renowned Bollywood singer Shaan to spread awareness about sanitation and sustainability, the spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, the seventh batch of over 6,500 Amarnath Yatra pilgrims left Jammu in the early hours of Thursday for the twin base camps in Kashmir amid tight security, officials said.
A total of 6,554 pilgrims — 5,053 male, 1,375 women, 101 seers and 25 children — left Bhagwati Nagar base camp here for the Valley in a convoy of 272 vehicles amid tight security arrangements in the early hours of Thursday, they said.
The officials said 3,864 pilgrims, headed for Pahalgam, left in a convoy of 141 vehicles for the Valley, while another convoy of 131 vehicles carrying 2,690 pilgrims left for the Baltal base camp at 3.30 am.
With this, a total of 36,823 pilgrims have left the Jammu base camp for the valley since June 30 when the first batch of pilgrims began the yatra, which was flagged off by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha. The yatra is scheduled to conclude on August 31.
The administration has registered over 3,000 fresh pilgrims on tatkal yatra counters in Jammu for their onward journey to Amarnath, officials said.
Over 300 pilgrims, who were carrying fake permits, have also been given permits after fresh registration at on-the-spot counters in Jammu.
These pilgrims were duped by the travel agencies by providing them fake registration documents for their yatra. Three persons have been arrested in this connection so far, they said.
The 62-day annual pilgrimage to the 3,888-metre-high cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas commenced from the twin tracks of Pahalgam in Anantnag district and Baltal in Ganderbal district on July 1.
