New Delhi, June 27: The first batch of pilgrims for the annual Amarnath Yatra were welcomed by locals and officers of the district administration in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur. According to a tweet by ANI, the pilgrims were welcomed by Deputy Commissioner Udhampur Ravinder Kumar & SP Udhampur Faisal Qureshi, at Tikri.

The two-month-long pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre high cave shrine of Amarnath will commence on June 28 and will conclude on August 26. It must be noted that this year, the yatra will be longer by 20 days against last year's 40 days. The pilgrims say that they are happy with the security arrangements. So far, nearly 200,000 pilgrims from across the country have registered themselves for the yatra to the cave shrine.

Commandant PP Pauly, 73 Battalion CRPF at Bemina informed that radio frequency based ID tags have been installed on vehicles. "We'll know whenever they'll pass by our 4 reception centres on 2 routes. If we don't receive a signal from a vehicle we'll inform IG Control room & naka points", Pauly informed.

An official spokesperson informed that as many as 2,11,994 pilgrims have got advance registration through the designated bank branches, group registration facility and through booking of helicopter tickets for the yatra.  The registration is being done at 440 branches of the Punjab National Bank, the Jammu and Kashmir Bank and the YES Bank across the country.

Reports inform that CCTV cameras, metal detectors and X-ray machines have been installed to prevent smuggling in of contraband. Besides, every person crossing into the tourist resort will be frisked. Also, ahead of the annual Amarnath yatra, security forces have been asked to maintain the highest level of alertness and synergy'.

According to a PTI report, the police and CRPF personnel have been deployed in large numbers around the Nunwan Base Camp located at the entry of this buzzing tourist town known as the 'valley of shepherds' in south Kashmir's Anantnag district.

Meanwhile, all border police stations, posts and check-points have also been directed to be strengthened and activated to neutralize any attempt of infiltration by terrorists from across the International Border (IB) and the Line of Control (LoC).

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 27, 2018 08:50 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).