2.25 lakh pilgrims registered

Over 2.25 lakh pilgrims have registered themselves for the pilgrimage to 13,500-feet high cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas.

 As many as 2,25,076 lakh pilgrims for Amarnath yatra have been registered at various registration counter and online centres across the country, Nodal officer of Registration officials and Vice President, Jammu and Kashmir Bank, Abdul Hamid said.

 The registration process is going on smoothly without any problem, he said. Of the total 2.25 lakh registered pilgrims, 45,495 pilgrims have registered themselves through online while rest have registered at counters at different places across the country. Giving details Hamid said that as many as 1,13,048 pilgrims have registered themselves for pilgrimage to cave shrine via Baltal route, while 1,12,028 pilgrims opted for the traditional Pahalgam-Amaranth route via south Kashmir.

 The Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) began the registration process on May 10 for the yatra. "The registration counters have been set up at 121 designated branches of the J&K Bank, 24 of the YES Bank and four of the District Cooperative Banks," the SASB spokesman.

 The Shrine Board, at its meeting on February 18 this year, has curtailed the period of the annual pilgrimage by 15 days. The yatra would commence simultaneously from Baltal and Chandanwari routes on June 29 and culminate on August 13.