JAMMU: Amid tight security arrangements, over 5,800 pilgrims departed from Jammu on Monday for the twin base camps of the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine of Amarnath in the south Kashmir Himalayas, officials said. They said the number of pilgrims who have paid obeisance at the cave shine has crossed two lakh. Escorted by CRPF personnel, the 11th batch of 5,803 pilgrims left for the base camps of Baltal and Palagam in 218 vehicles around 3 am, according to the officials. While 3,941 pilgrims took the 48-kilometre traditional Pahalgam route for their yatra, the rest took the shorter but steep 14-kilometre Baltal route, they said. With this, a total of 62,265 pilgrims have departed the Jammu base camp for the valley since June 28 when Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha flagged off the first batch. The 52-day yatra formally began on June 29 from twin base camps in Kashmir. It will conclude on August 19. More than 4.5 lakh pilgrims paid obeisance at the cave shrine last year.
