| First batch of 5,100 pilgrims leaves for Amarnath yatra | | | Early Times Report
Kathua, June 30: The first batch comprising of 5,100 Amarnath yatris was today flagged off by the state minister for health from the Lakhanpur base camp.
"The first batch comprising of 5,100 Amarnath pilgrims was today flagged off by the minister for health Choudhary Lal Singh from Lakhanpur base camp- the gateway of Jammu and Kashmir- for onward journey to the Himalayan cave shrine in South Kashmir District of Anantnag," an official spokesman said.
The pilgrims left Lakhanpur at 10 am, while many of them registered themselves for the annual pilgrimage on spot for which the government has put up a special counter.
District Development Commissioner Kathua Ajay Singh Jamwal, besides other senior officers of civil and police were present at the flagging off ceremony.
First batch of pilgrims, which left Lakhanpur amid chanting of religious slogans, hymns and prayers, included males, females and children on a fleet of 27 buses and 21 Light Motor Vehicles (LMVs).
Meanwhile, an official of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board said that till June 29 a total of 2,04,508 pilgrims had secured Advance Registration and 22,104 had purchased helicopter tickets from Baltal and Pahalgam to Panjtarni. |
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