Srinagar: Amarnath Yatra is going to start from 29th June. Earlier on Monday (3rd June), Baba Amarnath was seen in his full form. The Shivling of Baba Amarnath has completely formed from snow. Its pictures have surfaced.
This time the Amarnath Yatra will be of 52 days. Starting from 29th June, the Yatra will run till 19th August. Last time it ran from 1st July for 60 days. For the first time, both the routes will be fully equipped with 5G fiber network. Most of the poles have been installed for 24 hours electricity.
The Shrine Board is also increasing medical arrangements for the first time. There will be two camp hospitals equipped with 100-100 ICU beds, advanced equipment, X-ray, ultrasonography machine, critical care expert, cardiac monitor, liquid oxygen plant in Baltal and Chandanbari. There is less oxygen in the air here, so there will be 100 permanent oxygen booths and mobile oxygen booths on the Yatra route. There will be three small hospitals in the holy cave, Sheshnag and Panchtarni.
According to the Border Road Organisation, the 14 km route from Baltal to the cave has been widened from 7 to 12 feet. Vehicles can travel on it. However, only BRO army vehicles are allowed right now. This will be used in emergencies.
Last time, about 60 thousand soldiers were deployed on both routes. This time, all the 635 companies of paramilitary forces deployed in Jammu and Kashmir in the Lok Sabha elections will be deployed in the Yatra after voting.
Pahalgam Route: It takes 3 days to reach the cave from this route, but this route is easy. There is no steep climb in the Yatra. The first stop from Pahalgam is Chandanwadi. It is 16 km from the base camp. The climb starts from here.
After climbing three km, the Yatra reaches Pissu Top. From here, walking on foot, the Yatra reaches Sheshnag by evening. This journey is about 9 km. The next day, the pilgrims go to Panchtarni from Sheshnag. It is about 14 km from Sheshnag. The cave is only 6 km from Panchtarni.
Baltal route: If you are short of time, then choosing the Baltal route for Baba Barfani Darshan would be the best. It only has a 14 km long climb, but it is a very steep climb. That is why elderly people face problems on this route. The roads on this route are narrow and the turns are dangerous.
Kashmir’s divisional commissioner Vijay Kumar Bidhuri had told two months ago that this time our focus is on increasing passenger facilities. We are planning to make maximum arrangements for food, accommodation and health checkup on the entire route. Earlier, the 46 km long route from Pahalgam to the cave was 3 to 4 feet wide and the Baltal route was only 2 feet wide. Now it has been widened to 14 feet.
He further said that there has been a lot of snowfall in the last one month. The route will be repaired after removing the snow. Last time 4.50 lakh devotees had come. This time the figure can go up to 6 lakh. The yatra is of fewer days and there will be more crowd, so more arrangements are being made.
Registration process for Amarnath Yatra: Registration for Amarnath Yatra has started from April 15, both online and offline. For online registration, you can log in to the official website of the Shrine Board.
If you want to register through a mobile application, then you will have to download Shri Amarnathji Yatra App. Offline registration can be done from Punjab National Bank, SBI, Yes Bank and Jammu and Kashmir Bank.