SRINAGAR, July 9: Four more pilgrims, including two women, have died en route the Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir taking the toll in the ongoing pilgrimage to 51, officials said Monday.
Authorities are concerned as deaths are increasing during the annual yatra or pilgrimage, one of the holiest for Hindus.
Pilgrims bear harsh weather, including rains and snow, to reach the shrine, 14000-feet-high (3880 metres) in Kashmir Himalayas, which houses an ice stalamite worshipped by the Hindus.
Fifty-year-old Jayanta Mukherjee, a resident of West Bengal, died at Sheshnag along the Pahalgam route, officials said.
A woman named Usha and another pilgrim, Chota Bhai Patel, both residents of Gujarat and Ram Chander Gupta, 55, resident of Uttar Pradesh also died during the pilgrimage.
Most of the deaths have been caused due to cardiac failure, officials said.
More than three lakh devotees have paid obeisance at the cave shrine since its start on June 25, even as officials are concerned about the increasing deaths.
Governor N.N. Vohra Monday directed the authorities to take immediate steps to enhance healthcare during the Yatra.
Various possible reasons for the progressing number of Yatris losing their lives were discussed at length in an urgent meeting held Monday at the state Raj Bhavan under the governor’s chairmanship who is also the chairman of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) – which manages the shrine affairs.
The governor stressed that all possible causes for the mortalities should be critically analyzed to reduce the numbers of fatalities. In this context, he directed the chief executive officer (CEO) of the SASB to issue immediate instructions to all concerned officers in Yatra camps to further augment healthcare facilities on the entire Yatra route.
The governor asked the state health secretary to take immediate action to provide oxymeters at various locations to check the oxygen levels of the Yatris reporting at the health camps.
The governor also asked for increasing the deployment of specialist doctors at the base camps and at critical places like Brarimarg, Sangam, Pissu Top, Zojibal, Nagakoti to attend to the seriously ailing patients.
