The annual yatra to the cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir will begin from 2nd July. The Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board approved the pilgrimage this year for 48 days. The duration was 59 days last year. The board, however, did not specify the reason for curtailing the duration of the yatra.
Governor N N Vohra, who is the Chairman of the board, presided over the 30th Board Meeting in New Delhi. P K Tripathi, Chief Executive Officer of the Board said keeping in mind the present capacity of the tracks, available infrastructure in the yatra area and all other relevant considerations, the board decided that, excluding yatris who would travel by helicopters on either route to Panjtarni, 7,500 pilgrims would be allowed to register for Yatra on per-day per-route basis.
The Board directed the CEO to take all required steps to commence advance registration of pilgrims from 29th February for both the Baltal and Chandanwari routes.