The Jammu and Kashmir State Road Transport Corporation (JKSRTC) has geared up its 100 buses for the 45-day Amarnath Yatra scheduled to start on July 30.
Divulging the details, Habib-Ullah, RTC General Manager, told Rising Kashmir that STRC will engage 350 buses for Amarnath Yatra, among which the department will engage 100 buses. In addition, 250 private buses will be engaged by the Yatrism.
He stated that these buses will ply different routes to the cave from Bhagwati Nagar. Yatris will be able to take buses from Jammu Bhagwati Nagar to Pahalgam, Bhagwati Nagar to Baltal, and Srinagar to Pahalgam.
The department is working round the clock to keep these buses available for yartis for their smooth travel. The buses that have been rented are comfortable.
According to a senior official of the JKSTRC, the department buses will also be available on various routes in the valley to provide hassle-free movement to the local passengers.
65 more buses will be added to the department by the middle of next month. That will ease the problem of the passengers. “They said that among them, 10 buses will be added to Srinagar city while the remaining 46 buses will be added to other districts accordingly.
The annual Amarnath Yatra will start on June 30 this year for 43 days and conclude on Raksha Bandhan on August 11. The annual pilgrimage was cut short in 2019 and wasn’t held in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19. The registration for the yatra has started from April 11.
The yatra will start simultaneously from the Pahalgam route in Anantnag, in southern Kashmir, and the Baltal route in Ganderbal, in central Kashmir.
Local bus driver Farooq Ahmad at Parimpora Bus Stand told Rising Kashmir that these 45 days are kind of a blessing for bus drivers’ owners. They claim to have had baldness during the pandemic.
Ahmad said that during these 45 days, they are well paid by the department. He said it gives us immense pleasure to serve the Yatris, who are our guests here.
It is pertinent to mention here that earlier, “Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor and Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) chairperson Manoj Sinha launched an online helicopter booking portal for the Amarnath yatra.
