Annual Amarnath Yatra begins amid tight security

The annual Amarnath Yatra formally started on Saturday with around 5,600 pilgrims paying obeisance at the holy cave. The administration and armed forces have put in place elaborate security and logistical arrangement to ensure a successful, incident free and peaceful Amarnath Yatra.

The Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha also chaired a review meeting on control room operations set up at Raj Bhawan for the two month long yatra on the two routes of Baltal in Ganderbal of central Kashmir and Pahalgam in Anantnag of southern Kashmir The LG reviewed the queue management, deployment of security personnel, women constables, operation of food stalls and security forces at lower holy cave, installation of railings and helicopter services with the officers of the control room.

"A big push has been made to improve the facilities for pilgrims and to provide best of comfort to make the spiritual journey a pleasurable experience," said Sinha.

From Jammu, a second batch of 4,416 pilgrims left Bhagwati Nagar yatri niwas base camp in Jammu for the Kashmir valley to perform pilgrimage.

Meanwhile, the army officials also informed that additional security facilities have been put in place with special focus on quick and effective response in case of any natural calamity.