In Jammu and Kashmir, amid tight security arrangements, the 15th batch of over 6200 pilgrims left for the holy cave shrine of Shri Amarnath Ji from Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas, Jammu early morning today for the twin base camps of Baltal and Pahalgam in Kashmir. Akashvani Jammu Correspondent reports that a total of 6216 pilgrims including 4204 Male, 1871 Female, 16 Children, 78 Sadhu and 47 Sadhvi left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp Jammu for Kashmir valley in a cavalcade of 225 vehicles under tight security arrangements. Among them, 3052 pilgrims preferred the shortest Baltal track while 3164 opted for the traditional and longest Nunwan-Pahalgam route. 

With this, 93,018 pilgrims have now departed the Jammu base camp for the Kashmir Valley since June 30. However, so far a total of 2,29,221 pilgrims have visited the Amarnath Cave Shrine since July 1. The 62 day annual pilgrimage to the 3,888 metre high cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas commenced from the twin tracks of Pahalgam in Anantnag district and Baltal in Ganderbal district on July 1 and is scheduled to conclude on August 31. 

The yatra is progressing smoothly, with devotees from across the country thronging the base camps to have a glimpse of the naturally formed Ice-Shivlingam and offer their prayers. However, the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) has introduced a new mobile-based application for pilgrims intending to undertake the annual pilgrimage to the holy cave shrine of Shri Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas, which was designed and developed by the National e-Governance Division (NeGD) of the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeITY). The app provides important information to facilitate the planning of the 'yatra', lists facilities available in the shrine area, weather forecast, SOS call alert system, live tracking of 'yatris', and push notifications etc.