look news india
A very big and pleasant news is coming for crores of Shiva devotees and Amarnath pilgrims who visit Baba Barfani. To make the difficult journey to reach the holy Amarnath Cave more safe, accessible and easy, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has strongly advocated the development of a third and new route through Drass.
This historic proposal put forward by BJP’s Ladakh unit is an ambitious 14.15 km long ‘Zojila Tunnel’ Has come after reaching the final stage of construction work. This all-weather tunnel provides uninterrupted all-weather connectivity to Minimag area of Dras located in Kargil district of Ladakh. Taking advantage of this connectivity, a mega plan is now being prepared to complete Amarnath Yatra in a single day.
The climb from Minimag will be only 5 kilometers, devotees will save time.
Senior BJP leader Tashi Gyalson, while explaining the complete outline of this new route, has suggested that a new alternative route of only 5 kilometers of trek can be prepared from Minimag to the holy cave located near the eastern end of Zojila Tunnel in Dras. This route will prove to be much shorter, straighter and extremely safe as compared to the present Baltal route.
Gyalson told Zee News exclusively, “Minimag is already located at a huge altitude of about 10,800 feet above sea level. Because of this, the pilgrims will have to climb much less height than the traditional Baltal and Pahalgam routes. It will be an easy track of only 5 kilometers, with no dangerous steep climbs like the Baltal route.” He claimed that with the opening of this route, devotees will be able to complete the climb to the holy cave in just 1 to 2 hours by starting from Srinagar or Leh in the morning and return by evening, thereby reducing the entire journey to just one day.
At present there are two main routes to Amarnath cave.
As of now, only two routes are available to the devotees across the country to reach the holy Amarnath cave, and trekking on both the routes is considered quite difficult and challenging:
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Baltal Marg: It is a short route (14 km), but extremely steep and rugged. In this, the travelers have to climb steeply from a height of about 8,999 feet above sea level to the cave situated at a height of 12,756 feet.
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Pahalgam route: This is considered the most traditional route of Amarnath Yatra. It is quite a long (34 km) trek that the devotees have to climb to reach the holy cave, starting from a height of about 5,702 feet above sea level. It takes a long time of 2 to 4 days for the devotees to complete the journey through this route.
In contrast, the proposed new third route will be only 5 kilometers long, with a minor climb of just 1,956 feet above sea level, which any normal person can easily complete in 2 hours.
Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh asked for detailed report, environment will also get relief
The construction of this third route will not only help in better managing the huge crowd of lakhs of devotees coming every year, but will also reduce the environmental pressure on sensitive areas like Baltal and Pahalgam to a great extent.
According to Amarnath Shrine Board and central government sources, the Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Ladakh has sought a high-level Detailed Project Report to closely examine the real possibilities and safety of opening this new route. Ladakh administration believes that this route will prove to be a game-changer once the Zojila Tunnel becomes operational. This will not only provide the Amarnath pilgrims the option of a safe and easy journey, but will also provide employment to the local youth of the Union Territory of Ladakh and will also give a big boost to the economy there.