Pilgrims in Jammu & Pahalgam complain of delay in getting permission for Amarnath Yatra

Srinagar: The devotees in Pahalgam and Jammu waiting to embark on their pilgrimage to the Amarnath holy shrine are complaining that they are facing difficulties in getting the required permission to start their journey. A pilgrim, Dharmendra Bhargav, said, "Earlier, they said the people were stranded due to a traffic jam. Hence, they asked us to visit Vaishno Devi and we went there. When we returned back during the night, we were informed that all the tokens have been sold. It is distributed only for three hours after which the officials go back home to sleep."

Another pilgrim said, "We are waiting here since Wednesday for tokens. But, because of the crowd, we can't get tokens easily." At least four days after the Yatra was halted from Jammu due to adverse weather conditions and damaged roads, Tatkal registrations of unregistered pilgrims resumed on Wednesday. Pilgrims, including women, were seen waiting in serpentine queues to register for the Yatra.

"We are facing issues to get a token. We have to stand in a queue for medical facilities. People are facing so much trouble. More counters should be opened," a pilgrim, Bhintade said.  "They are not making any arrangements. There are elderly people here, and they are worried. We have spent 4-5 days in Jammu," another pilgrim, who came for the Yatra said. Five counters have been set up for the Tatkal registration of the pilgrims in Jammu. At least 1.40 lakh pilgrims have paid obeisance to the Ice Lingam of Lord Shiva at Amarnath so far, and over 53,000 devotees have left the Jammu base camp for Kashmir in 11 batches.