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Amarnath yatra claims three more lives

Three more pilgrims died on their way to the Amarnath cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas, raising the toll to seven. They died following heart attacks, on Wednesday.

The deceased were identified as Chabeel Dass of Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh), Amarnath lkarni Anand of Maharashtra and Prem Brama of Ahmedabad, an official spokesman said.

Four pilgrims - Sarwati Bhai of Gujarat, Dev Raj Gulati, Anil Jain and Ramesh Padroo (all residents of Delhi) - have already died enroute to the 3,880-metre high cave shrine since the month-long yatra commenced on July 13.

Authorities halted the Amarnath yatra through the Pahalgam and Baltal routes on Thursday morning following heavy overnight showers. An official spokesman said that the track had become slippery.

He said 40,817 pilgrims from various parts of the country have reached the base camp in Pahalgam since the pilgrimage's commencement on July 13. Of them, 36,464 had paid their respects at the cave shrine until Wednesday evening.

The Jammu and Kashmir government has decided not to allow any unregistered pilgrim to proceed to the cave. Only those carrying proper papers would be allowed on the date for which the registration was made.

This is in tune with the recommendations of the Nitesh Sen Gupta Commission that was set up after 250 pilgrims died following heavy snow and a subsequent stampede in July-August 1996.

It was estimated that over 120,000 pilgrims will visit the shrine this year. The government has made elaborate security arrangements for the yatra.

Seeking pilgrims' co-operation for better regulation of the 30-day yatra culminating on August 15, the spokesman expressed concern over the arrival of several unregistered pilgrims at Jammu and Pahalgam, creating problems for the administration besides risking pilgrims' lives.

The number of the yatris actually arriving at the base camps is estimated to be three times the number permitted by the government, the spokesman said. The available infrastructure does not permit more than 3,500 pilgrims to be despatched each day from the base camps at Pahalgam and Baltal.

Prior to the yatra's commencement, the government set up six centres in the country to enable pilgrims to register themselves.

Agencies

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