Amarnath Yatra draws 1.13 million pilgrims in five days as authorities boost security and services

The annual Amarnath Yatra, a 57‑day pilgrimage to the ice‑shaped Shivling in the Kashmir Himalayas, began on 3 July. Within the first five days more than 113,000 devotees had performed darshan at the holy cave, surpassing the one‑lakh milestone.

Daily pilgrim convoys have been departing from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu. The seventh batch, the largest so far, comprised roughly 9,800–10,000 pilgrims travelling via the Baltal and Pahalgam routes. Security forces—including the Army, CRPF, BSF, and local police—have maintained multi‑layered protection along the Jammu‑Srinagar highway and at base camps. The Northern Railway reinforced the Jammu station with 24‑hour CCTV, RPF and GRP personnel, special help desks and a dedicated special‑train service for pilgrims.

Pilgrims have praised the arrangements, citing adequate medical teams, disaster‑response units, food, water and shelter facilities. However, environmentalists and shrine authorities raised concerns after the natural ice ling showed significant melting within five days, prompting questions about crowd density, micro‑climate impacts and climate‑change effects on the shrine.