Ganderbal, July 02: With the annual Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra (SANJY) 2026 to commence officially on Friday, hundreds of vehicles carrying Amarnath pilgrims have reached here at yatra base camp Baltal in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district for the annual Amarnath pilgrimage.
The first batch of Amarnath Yatris after passing through different places in the Kashmir reached Baltal base camp where it was accorded warm welcome by Minister for CAPD and Transport Satish Sharma and the district civil and police administration Ganderbal besides locals. The first batch of pilgrims had left the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in Jammu Thursday. Using various modes of transport, the pilgrims from different parts of the country amid heightened security arrangements start reaching the base camps Thursday evening, ahead of the formal start of the pilgrimage to the cave shrine, located at a height of 13,500 feet above sea level. The first batch of pilgrims was accorded a warm and heartfelt by the senior officials of the civil and police administration at Baltal base camp. On the occasion, Satish Sharma Minister for Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, Transport, Information Technology, Youth Services & Sports, DIG Maqsood-ul-Zaman, DC Ganderbal Jatin Kishore and SSP Ganderbal Sudhanshu Dhama-personally welcomed the yatris, interacted with them, and conveyed their best wishes for a safe, peaceful, and spiritually enriching pilgrimage.
They assured the devotees that elaborate security, traffic management, and public facilitation arrangements have been put in place by Ganderbal Police in close coordination with the Civil Administration, CAPFs, Health Department, and other stakeholder agencies. Dedicated Helping Hand teams, assistance booths, and round-the-clock deployment of police personnel have been established to provide guidance, emergency assistance, and ensure the smooth movement of pilgrims along the yatra route. During interaction, the officers urged the yatris to follow the advisories issued by the authorities & cooperate with security personnel.
The 57-day pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre-high Amarnath cave shrine is scheduled to commence on July 3 simultaneously from the traditional 48-km Nunwan-Pahalgam route in the Anantnag district and the shorter but steeper 14-km Baltal route in the Ganderbal district.