2,500 devotees leave for Khir Bhawani mela in Ganderbal

Jammu: Over 2,500 devotees from the city were today headed to Kashmir Valley on a pilgrimage to Khir Bhawani temple in Ganderbal.

About 50 buses rolled out from Jagti Township on the outskirts of the city towards the Valley with Relief Commissioner RK Pandita flagging off the pilgrimage. However, buses available were found to be short of requirement with many devotees protesting against the inadequate arrangements. They demanded that the government make necessary provisions to ferry the pilgrims who had been forced to stay behind. Police, however, sought to differ and said that there was no dearth of buses. "There was no shortage of buses as such. Actually what happened was that people who had not registered for the pilgrimage also queued up to board the buses. In the process some genuine devotees were left behind," the official said. PTI