Amarnath Yatra: Kannadigas are safe, says Basavaraj Bommai

www.mangaloretoday.com

Bengaluru, July 10, 2022: The state government said on Saturday it has received details about 370 pilgrims belonging to Karnataka who are in various locations along the Amarnath Yatra route, with Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai saying there are no reports of any Kannadiga casualties.

“We are safe. We were not affected due to the cloudburst. The armed forces are helping us. We are just 28 km away from the Amarnath cave temple,” said Suresh Kotian, who is a part of the group of pilgrims from Dakshina Kannada district.

“The state government is taking every possible measure to rescue stranded pilgrims,” Bommai said.

“Kannadigas who are on Amarnath Yatra are safe. There is no report of any untoward incident related to Kannadigas. We are in contact with the Jammu & Kashmir and Union governments,” Bommai said, adding that Chief Secretary Vandita Sharma is in “direct contact” with the Union government.

Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority commissioner Manoj Rajan said details of 370 Karnataka pilgrims received so far have been shared with “NDRF Control Room and Integrated Command and Control Centre under Divisional Commissioner’s Office, Kashmir and Amarnath Shrine Board to provide any assistance on priority.”

He added that the State Emergency Operation Center (SEOC) has received 57 calls from the relatives of pilgrims. “The SEOC and relatives have been able to establish contact with most of them. The pilgrims are safe and a few are stranded due to inclement weather and will be moving out as soon as the weather clears,” he said. According to Rajan, pilgrims are from Ramanagara, Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, Chikkaballapur, Mysuru, Mandya, Shivamogga, Bagalkot, Dakshina Kannada and Kolar districts.