Day 3: 14000 pilgrims pay obeisance at Amarnath cave shrine

On the third day of the Amarnath Yatra, nearly 14,000 pilgrims paid obeisance at the naturally formed ice lingam in the cave shrine on Wednesday, even as four devotees had to be airlifted for medical attention, officials said.

 “As many as13,835 yatris paid obeisance at the cave shrine (on Wednesday). Till date,33,694 pilgrims had a darshan of the Shivling at the holy cave,” aspokesman for the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) said.

   

He said that on the directions of Jammu and Kashmir GovernorSatya Pal Malik, who is also the chairman of the SASB, four pilgrims wereairlifted from various halting stations for medical treatment.  “One yatri was airlifted from Panjtarniand referred to Medical Hospital Pahalgam for treatment while three others wereairlifted from Sheshnag,” he added.

The spokesman said the Governor has directed the authoritiesto provide best medical facilities to the sick pilgrims.

The yatra to the cave shrine commenced Monday from bothBaltal and the Pahalgam routes in Kashmir.

Multi-tier security arrangements have been made for thesmooth and successful conduct of the yatra concluding on August 15.

As many as 2.85 lakh pilgrims paid obeisance at the shrinelast year, while the number of pilgrims was 3.52 lakh in 2015, 3.20 lakh in2016 and 2.60 lakh in 2017. (With inputs from PTI) 

Advisor Kumar performs pooja, reviews arrangements  

Meanwhile, Governor’s Advisor K Vijay Kumar on Wednesdaypaid obeisance at Amarnath cave shrine. On the occasion, the Advisor performedpooja at the shrine and prayed for peace, progress and prosperity in the state.

The Advisor also reviewed the all necessary arrangementsmade for the smooth conduct of the annual pilgrimage and also took appraisal ofthe facilities being provided for pilgrims en-route, at the holy cave and atall the camps.

At holy cave, K Vijay Kumar held a brief meeting with theCamp Director Rajnish Kumar, Additional CEO SASB Anup Soni, SP Camp, seniordoctors and other concerned officers deployed there.

He enquired from the officers regarding overall conduct ofyatra, number of yatris visiting the holy cave in a day, availability of oxygencylinders, drugs en-route and at all the medical points established, sanitationactivities, operation of langers and quality of food being made available thereand other important issues.

He stressed on availability of oxygen cylinders includingportable one in sufficient number en-route and especially at holy cave being athigh altitude. He asked the health authorities to provide best and timelytreatment to the yatris whenever need arises.

The Advisor asked the officers to monitor the weatherupdates on daily basis and act accordingly so that the yatris do not face anyinconvenience.

It was instructed that the pony dung and other kind ofdebris on the whole track must be cleaned and plastic water bottles and otherstuff also be removed and dumped at identified places.

The Advisor also interacted with the pilgrims and asked themabout the facilities that are being made available for them. The pilgrims weresatisfied with the arrangements and said that they are enjoying theirpilgrimage and visit to the state.

K Vijay Kumar visited the base hospital at Panjtarni andtook appraisal of health services being provided to the patients. The concernedsenior doctor on duty briefed him about the working of the hospital andtreatment being given to the yatris being admitted for treatment.

The Advisor asked the doctors and others medical staff toput in their best efforts in providing best services to the yatris and to takebetter care of them.

Later, he was also briefed about the security arrangementsby the senior officers of police, army and paramilitary forces deployed onduty.

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