SRINAGAR: The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) announced that it has expanded road connectivity to the cave-shrine of Amarnath, with the first set of vehicles carrying devotees reaching the revered Hindu place of worship on Monday.
Road connectivity has now been extended all the way to the top of the shrine, situated in lower Kashmir Himalayas at an elevation of 3,888 metres. The BRO officials said the historic task was completed and vehicles can travel all the way to the shrine from Dumail, via the Baltal base camp, 86 kilometres north of Srinagar.
The BRO was entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining the twin tracks leading to Amarnath in September last year, after the J&K administration handed over the same for maintenance and upgradation. It undertook the road widening project to ease the difficulties faced by pilgrims, who traditionally had to travel to the cave shrine by foot.
Earlier, the J&K public works department (PWD) and the Pahalgam Development Authority were maintaining the traditional Pahalgam as well as the shorter Baltal route in Anantnag and Ganderbal districts.
With the motorable road reaching the Amarnath cave shrine, the pilgrimage would become more accessible and comfortable for the devotees, the officials said.
However, some Opposition parties and environmentalists in Jammu and Kashmir have voiced their displeasure and concern over the new road, claiming that it will propel towards disaster. Former chief minister and Jammu and Kashmir National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said constructing a motorable path up to Amarnath may destabilize the Himalayan slopes and make them susceptible to erosion.
