Little respite for Amarnath pilgrims

Several hundred pilgrims stranded near the holy cave have, meanwhile, been rescued. However, one of them, Nisha Jindal, died after she slipped on the track.

With weather showing slight improvement, there is a slight possibility of resumption of the yatra through the shorter Baltal route. A decision in this regard will be taken tomorrow.

The Deputy Chief Executive of the Shri Amarnath Ji Shrine Board (SASB), Madan Mantoo, said that the authorities had pressed helicopters into service to evacuate the stranded pilgrims.

Governor Lt General (Retd) S K Sinha this morning flew into the Holy Cave, besides Panchtarni and Baltal to take stock of the evacuation operations.

With no word yet on when the yatra might resume, the soaring heat in Jammu is making a prolonged stay there unbearable for many pilgrims. Many are also worried about exhausting their finances before the yatra commences.

The pilgrims coming from various parts of the country mostly arrived here by train as per the date allotted to them for registration for the yatra. Their return tickets are also similarly booked, says Ankur Goel of Nagpur.

Now getting a confirmed ticket on short notice might be impossible and the government as well as the Amarnath Shrine Board should do something in this regard, many pilgrims feel.

‘‘Although the langars are functioning in the city as well as at M A Stadium, the problem is that the arrangements for the stay have been made at other places like in schools, dharamshalas and community halls and the pilgrims were not allowed to stay at M A Stadium,’’ said Laksmi Singh of Madhya Pradesh.

To come for meals three times a day to the stadium is not possible, so they prefer taking meals in dhabas, she said.