HYDERABAD: Over 1,000 pilgrims from Telangana are believed to have travelled to Amarnath shrine in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir since July 1. While there is no official confirmation about any casualties from the state in the tragedy which unfolded right outside the cave shrine on Friday evening, the National Disaster Response Force operating the helpline informed The New Indian Express that all the pilgrims who were stranded at the shrine have been rescued and shifted to Srinagar.
According to the operator of the helpline, as on Saturday evening, 21 pilgrims who went missing after the cloudburst at the shrine were found alive, and there were 61 persons (mostly from East Godavari district) from Andhra Pradesh who were injured, were shifted to various Army hospitals including the nearest one in Baltal. He, however, said that the official list of the deceased was yet to be released.
Arvind, a tour operator from amarnathjiyatra.com tells Express that pilgrims from AP and Telangana combined, form 30 per cent of those visiting Amarnath for 42 days starting July 1.According to him, pilgrims are not usually allowed to camp right outside the cave, where the incident happened.
“Only those stuck near the cave after getting detached from their group, officials, those holding langars and sadhus stay in the tents there. We make sure all the pilgrims are taken back to the camp at Panchtarni where the helipad is located. Rescue efforts are still on, and identifying the deceased and those who went missing could take time,” he said.
RFID tags
RFID tags have been issued by authorities this time to track devotees, which would help them identify and get accurate information of each and every devotee.The tour operator also says that there was a plan to set up a helipad near the cave to directly drop and pick up pilgrims to avoid the treacherous journey from Panchkarni. Fortunately, the idea did not materialise. Had that happened, he said that the death toll could have been much higher, as thousands more could have been present at the site at any given time.
Triveni, a tour operator of SVR Tours and Travels based in Hyderabad, said they had sent around 200-300 pilgrims from Telangana, with 25 members in a group and eight groups were sent there since July 1. She informed TNIE that their group completed their darshan at the cave and had already reached Panchtarni by 5 pm, after which the disaster happened.
TS MLA’s narrow escape
BJP MLA T Raja Singh and his family members had a narrow escape from the tragedy during their visit to the Amarnath shrine on Friday. Describing the tragedy, he told the media that he and his family members had just finished their darshan and were 2 km away from the cave, while returning back to Panchtarni, they suddenly experienced heavy rain. In no time, the tents and the people inside them were washed away in the heavy flow.