Pahalgam route opens for Amarnath pilgrims

Pahalgam (J-K), June 25 (ANI): The Amarnath Yatra started from its traditional rout Pahalgam this morning.

According to authorities only 2000 pilgrims will be allowed today from nun-wan base camp, Pahalgam towards the holy cave.

Earlier the yatra was suspended on this route due to bad weather conditions. he route from Pahalgam is the traditional route while the one from Baltal is considered to be the secondary route.

B. Srivastava, a devotee from Madhya Pradesh thanked the government of Jammu and Kashmir for making efforts to clear this route.

"We are lucky that this route (Pahalgam route) has been opened and we thank the government of Jammu and Kashmir for this. This is the route which everyone wants to take as it is considered the main route and the Baltal route is considered to be secondary ," said Srivastava.

A pony owner also expressed happiness on the opening of this route.We are very happy because this track was closed for last 10-15 days and now it has opened," said Ahmad.

Jammu and Kashmir government and Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) have set up three base camps at Bhagwati Nagar in Jammu, at Nunwan in Pahalgam and at Baltal to arrange for boarding and lodging facilities to pilgrims visiting the cave shrine.

While Jammu base camp facilitates boarding and lodging for over 20,000 pilgrims at a time, Baltal and Nunwan can house over 5,000 pilgrims at a time.

About 12,000 pilgrims have paid obeisance at the Amarnath cave shrine till now. (ANI)