The ninth batch of more than 8500 Shri Amarnath Yatra pilgrims on Friday left here from the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas base camp for the twin base camps of the cave shrine in the South Kashmir Himalayas amid tight security arrangements.
Officials said that 8,796 pilgrims early this morning left the Jammu base camp in a fleet of 354 vehicles comprising light motor vehicles and heavy motor vehicles.
The batch comprised 3450 pilgrims for Baltal and 5346 for Pahalgam and left for the pilgrimage under a multi-layered security grid, with coordinated arrangements by the civil administration, police, security forces and the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board to ensure the Yatra is conducted safely, securely and smoothly.
However, a total number of 1,71,501 yatris from different parts of country visited cave shrine during the last seven days since the yatra started.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration has also appealed to the pilgrims to perform the pilgrimage only after confirmed registration and on the scheduled date of yatra as no unregistered pilgrim shall be allowed to proceed to the base camps.
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha flagged off the first batch of yatra on July 2 from Jammu.
