No delay in June 25 start of Amarnath pilgrimage

Jammu, June 11 (IANS) Despite unseasonal snowfall hampering the clearance of the 37-km route to the Amarnath cave shrine in Jammu and Kashmir, the pilgrimage will start on the scheduled date of June 25, Governor N.N. Vohra said Monday.

The shrine, devoted to Lord Shiva, is located at the height of 13,888 feet above sea level and most stretches of the tracks leading to it are filled with heavy snow.

But that would not be allowed to come in the way of the start of the pilgrimage from June 25, as scheduled by the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, Vohra said.

Vohra, who is also the chairman of the board, visited Chandanwari and Pahalgam, said an official release issued Monday evening.

The release said that Vohra directed the engineering wing of the board and the civil administration to put in extra effort to clear the pilgrimage tracks before June 25 on both Chandanwari and Baltal routes.

More than 300,000 people have registered themselves for the pilgrimage this year. In 2011, 633,000 pilgrims visited the shrine.

--Indo-Asian Nwes Service

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