No yatri movement after 6 pm, other than convoys: Kashmir traffic police

Jammu/Srinagar, July 3

The Kashmir traffic police, in an advisory, have said the movement of pilgrims and tourists, other than the convoys being escorted by security men, is allowed only from 7 am to 6 pm. Advising visitors to plan their travel accordingly, the police say that in case anyone fails to reach his destination before 6 pm, security forces will make him halt at the nearest lodgement centre.

50k pay obeisance so far

• Five pilgrims have died since the commencement of the Amarnath Yatra this year and around 50,000 devotees have so far visited the holy cave shrine.
• The ITBP says its men have provided oxygen support to over 50 persons in high-altitude areas on the Sheshnag-Mahaguns stretch.
• The fifth batch of over 8,700 Amarnath pilgrims has left the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas for the shrine in a convoy of 326 vehicles, say officials.

Issued by the J&K Traffic IGP, the advisory stated that empty tankers and trucks with up to 10 tyres shall ply via Mughal Road towards Jammu. Similar heavy vehicles loaded with fresh perishable items can take the highway route, but shall preferentially use Mughal Road towards Jammu.

The timing on Mughal Road has also been increased from 7 am to 4 pm, subject to the daily assessment by traffic authorities.

Trucks with more than 10 tyres shall ply via national highway and the vehicles loaded with fresh perishable items should reach Jakheni Naka/Qazigund Naka before 2 pm. These trucks shall be parked separately and shall be given preference when the traffic is released, it said.

Five pilgrims have died since the commencement of the Amarnath Yatra this year, even as around 50,000 devotees have so far visited the holy cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas, officials said on Sunday.

A pilgrim, Virinder Gupta, has been missing from the yatra’s Chandanwari-Sheshnag route, they said. Of the five deceased, three passed away due to cardiac arrests. Jai Prakash from Delhi died at Chandanwari, Devender Tayal (53) from Bareilly collapsed at Lower Cave and Lipo Sharma (40) from Bihar died at Qazigund camp, officials said.

Jagannath (61) from Maharashtra lost his life due to some health condition at Pisutop while Ashu Singh (46) from Rajasthan died after he fell from a horse at MG top, they mentioned.

Till 10 am on Sunday, 40,233 pilgrims visited the holy cave shrine and had ‘darshan’ of the naturally formed ice-shivlingam.

The fifth batch of over 8,700 Amarnath pilgrims on Sunday left the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas for the shrine in a convoy of 326 vehicles. Officials said 2,618 pilgrims heading for Baltal were the first to leave the Bhagwati Nagar camp in 121 vehicles around 3.30 am followed by the second convoy of 205 vehicles carrying 6,155 pilgrims for Pahalgam. The yatra, which began on June 30, will culminate on August 11. (With PTI inputs)