First batch of pilgrims set to reach Amarnath

The first batch of pilgrims for the month-and-a-half-long Amarnath Yatra will arrive at the cave shrine in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday.

Srinagar: The first batch of pilgrims for the month-and-a-half-long Amarnath Yatra will arrive at the cave shrine in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday.

Initially, only 5,000 pilgrims had been allowed to move towards the cave shrine, officials said.

But eyewitnesses said more than 13,000 pilgrims have already left the Baltal base camp in North Kashmir.

Reports from South Kashmir`s Nunwan base camp suggest that officially only 2,000 pilgrims had been allowed to move towards the cave shrine. But more than 10,000 pilgrims have already left the camp, according to eye witnesses.

The gross disparity between the official and the actual number of pilgrims present at the two base camps, is attributed to the large number of unregistered pilgrims, sources said.

The annual Amarnath pilgrimage was flagged off from Jammu last morning.

IANS

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