20,000 Pilgrims Visit Lord Shiva’s Cave Temple During Ongoing Amarnath Yatra: LG Manoj Sinha | India News
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha visited the Baltal Base Camp today to review preparations for the Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra and inaugurate the newly built Yatri Niwas. He emphasized that the Shri Amarnath Ji Shrine Board, the administration, J&K Police, security forces, and other stakeholders have made significantly better arrangements than in previous years to ensure a safe, peaceful, and devotee-friendly Yatra.
While speaking to the media, Sinha stated that over 20,000 devotees had already performed darshan at the holy Amarnath cave shrine, with pilgrims arriving from various parts of India. He described an “atmosphere of celebration and enthusiasm” across Jammu and Kashmir for the Yatra and highlighted the warm welcome extended by the people of the region.
He assured that pilgrims arriving earlier than their scheduled dates would be accommodated, ensuring flexibility and enhancing their experience. This, he said, reflects the administration’s commitment to prioritizing pilgrim convenience.
Sinha also highlighted the inauguration of the Yatri Niwas Complex at Baltal, developed by ONGC under its Corporate Social Responsibility initiative at a cost of Rs 240 crore. This project covers facilities at Sidhra (Jammu), Baltal, Nunwan, and Bijbehara. The Baltal facility can accommodate 800 pilgrims and includes a registration and security block, underscoring the administration’s focus on providing safe and adequate lodging.
He reiterated that the Shri Amarnath Ji Shrine Board, the J&K administration, police, security forces, and other stakeholders have made notable improvements over previous years. These enhancements include better healthcare, power supply, communication, water availability, sanitation, food services, lodging, traffic management, surveillance, track maintenance, and overall security.
LG Sinha expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas for their support to the Shrine Board. He also thanked ONGC for their contributions to infrastructure development.
