Srinagar, Jul 10 (KNS): Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday made a surprise visit to the Baltal Base Camp to review the arrangements for the ongoing Amarnath Yatra, emphasising that the comfort of devotees must remain the "highest priority" for all agencies involved.

 

LG Sinha, who also serves as the chairman of the Shri Amarnath Ji Shrine Board, inspected various facilities along with senior officials and directed all departments to ensure a seamless journey for the pilgrims. "From registration to accommodation, from smooth movement to darshan, every step of the journey should be seamless and free of any obstacles," he said.

 

"The Shrine Board and every department involved are united in their dedication to making this spiritual journey a safe, seamless, and deeply memorable experience for all," he added.

 

Meanwhile, the ninth batch of 8,796 pilgrims, including 33 foreigners, left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp here in the early hours of Friday for the twin tracks of the annual Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district, officials said.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel

 

The pilgrims, comprising 6,046 men, 2,042 women, 228 sadhus, 56 sadhvis, 10 children, one transperson, and 33 foreigners, departed in 354 vehicles under multi-tier security arrangements, they said.

 

Officials said the convoy left in two separate groups — 3,450 pilgrims for the Baltal axis at 3:35 am and 5,346 for the Pahalgam axis at 4 am — amid chants of 'Bam Bam Bhole', 'Har Har Mahadev' and 'Jai Barfani Baba Ki'.

 

More than 1.73 lakh pilgrims have had 'darshan' of the naturally formed ice 'lingam' of Lord Shiva at the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine since the Yatra commenced on July 2, they said.

 

With Friday's departures, a total of 61,612 pilgrims have left the Jammu base camp for the Kashmir Valley since the commencement of the Yatra.

 

The 57-day annual pilgrimage is scheduled to conclude on August 28. (KNS)