The Border Roads Organization (BRO) personnel gas created a history with the first set of vehicles reaching the Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas after widening of the pedestrian track.
“Project Beacon is involved in the restoration and improvement of Amarnath Yatra tracks. BRO personnel completed the formidable task and created history with the first set of vehicles reaching the holy cave,” BRO announced in a post on X, formerly twitter.
A BRO official said they widened the pedestrian track up to 12 feet and a truck and small pickup vehicle plied from Dumail in Ganderbal district to the Amarnath Cave via Baltal base camp.
He said widening of the nearly 13-kilometer road stretch has been completed till the cave from the Sangam base and Sangam top road via Baltal.
This pedestrian road to Amarnath would reduce the travel time for pilgrims.
The Amarnath cave in south Kashmir is situated at a height of about 3,888 meters above sea level.
The yatra takes place simultaneously from both routes—the Pahalgam track in the Anantnag district and Baltal in the Ganderbal district.
The Lt Government administration in J&K handed over the tracks to the BRO for maintenance and upgradation in September last year.
The BRO undertook the road widening project to ease the difficulties faced by the pilgrims who traditionally had to travel to the cave shrine on foot.
In April this year, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, announced that the 110 km-long Amarnath Marg leading to the holy Amarnath cave in Pahalgam would be built at a cost of around Rs 5300 crore for the convenience of the pilgrims going to Amarnath cave shrine.