Srinagar, Nov 6: Border Roads personnel have created a history with the first set of vehicles recently reaching the holy Amarnath cave.
The Border Roads Organization (BRO), tasked with the road widening work on the Amarnath cave routes, announced the completion of the formidable task.
“Project Beacon is involved in the restoration and improvement of Amarnath Yatra tracks. Border Roads personnel completed the formidable task and created history with the first set of vehicles reaching the holy cave,” BRO announced in a post on X.
Giving further details, an official of the BRO said they took a truck and small pickup vehicle from Dumail (in Ganderbal district) to the Amarnath Cave via Baltal base camp, which is one of the two routes to reach the cave.
He said BRO used these vehicles for the ongoing work near the holy cave of Amarnath.
“The vehicles had gone there (at the cave) because we have to carry a lot of stores as we have to do a lot of the permanent work,” he said. “And yes, it has been a great achievement for the BRO because, in a very short time, we could reach there. We employed our resources because our aim was to reach there before the snowfall.”
The officer said right now, widening of the nearly 13-kilometer road stretch has been done till the cave from the Sangam base and Sangam top road via Baltal. The road to Amarnath would reduce the travel time for pilgrims.
The cave of Shri Amarnath Ji in south Kashmir is situated at a height of about 3,888 meters above sea level, and the Yatra holds immense significance as a holy pilgrimage for Hindus. Annually, thousands of devotees participate in the Amarnath Yatra, and this year, more than 4.5 lakh pilgrims offered prayers at the cave shrine.
The yatra takes place simultaneously from both routes—the Pahalgam track in the Anantnag district and Baltal in the Ganderbal district.
In April this year, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, announced that the 110 km-long Amarnath Marg leading to the holy Amarnath cave in Pahalgam would be built at a cost of around Rs 5300 crore for the convenience of the pilgrims going to Shri Amarnath Shrine.