Rajnath Singh pays obeisance at Amarnath cave shrine

PAHALGAM: As the annual Amarnath Yatra started on Thursday, union home minister Rajnath Singh paid obeisance at the cave in south Kashmir Himalayas, underscoring Narendra Modi government’s seriousness in organizing and managing the pilgrimage.

Singh visited the holy cave, around 3888 meters above the sea level, in a helicopter on early Thursday morning. Jammu and Kashmir Governor, N N Vohra also visited the cave opening the two-month yatra.

In an interaction with reporters, Singh, who had arrived in the Valley on Wednesday to review security arrangements, claimed that he was ‘fully confident of the security put in place for the Yatra.’

Amarnath Yatra, remains a controversial issue in the Kashmir valley, as separatist leaders raise environmental concerns due to heavy inflow of pilgrims in the ecologically sensitive ecosystem of the Amarnath cave. They have been consistently demanding to reduce the duration of Yatra and also regulate the inflow of pilgrims.