Amarnath Yatra: Jammu Transport Department to operate 200 buses, routes to cover Pahalgam and Baltal paths; check fare, duration here

The yatra will begin on July 3 and continue till August 27 this year. This time, pilgrims travelling in JKRTC buses will have to pay higher fares compared to last year, as the government increased passenger fares in the Union Territory by 18 percent about a month ago.

The fare charged to devotees will depend on the type of bus they choose for travel.

It is important to note that JKRTC has not yet fixed the fares for different categories of buses for the Amarnath Yatra. The management has said that the fares will be publicly announced a week before the pilgrimage begins. The Jammu and Kashmir SRTC department will provide a total of 200 buses this year for the annual Amarnath Yatra, including deluxe coaches, semi-deluxe buses, and other categories.

Here are some of the key details:

• According to a Dainik Jagran report quoting JKRTC sources, out of these 200 buses, 100 buses will daily transport batches of Amarnath pilgrims from Jammu to Srinagar and from Srinagar to Jammu.
• These buses will operate on both the Pahalgam and Baltal routes of the Amarnath Yatra.
• Out of the remaining 100 buses provided by the Jammu and Kashmir State Road Transport Corporation, some will be stationed at Ramban, Banihal, Udhampur, Nagrota, and other locations along the pilgrimage route
• During the pilgrimage, if any bus carrying devotees develops a mechanical fault, pilgrims will be able to continue their journey without interruption by boarding the JKRTC buses stationed at various points.
• As in previous years, some empty buses will also accompany the Amarnath Yatra convoy this year so that, in case of an emergency, devotees can be shifted to these reserve buses.

MP CM Mohan Yadav visits Mata Vaishno Devi shrine

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Friday paid his obeisance at the Mata Vaishnodevi shrine and said his visit, along with a team of officials, was for studying the management system here for developing an effective model project for temples in his state.

Yadav said that the proposed model would focus on crowd management, public services and devotional services at major temples in Madhya Pradesh.

“The Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga shrine, the Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga shrine, and now recently the shrine of Mother Bagdevi have, in a way, been recognised by the High Court as temple institutions. At this time, regarding our administrative arrangements, we have come here with a team to study and understand the systems in place,” he told reporters at Katra.