BJP pushes for ‘safest and shortest’ third route to Amarnath from Ladakh’s Drass

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is pushing for a third route to the Amarnath cave from Ladakh and is pitching it as the “shortest and safest” trek to the cave shrine located at an altitude of 12,756 feet.

“The all-weather 14.15 km Zojila Tunnel has opened up a new pathway to have an alternative route to the Amarnath shrine from Ladakh’s Drass district. It should be around a 5 km trek from Drass’ Minamarg,” senior BJP leader and advocate Tashi Gyalson told The Hindu.

Ladakh Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena has sought a detailed report about the possibility of opening up a new route to the Amarnath cave. “We are working on the details of it. It will be the safest and shortest route to the shrine. The mountain gradient compared to the Pahalgam and Baltal routes is also less. It’s not as tough as the routes in the Kashmir valley,” Mr. Gyalson said. 

The proposed new route is on the eastern side of Minamarg, where the eastern portal of the Zojila Tunnel also opens up in Drass, Ladakh. It is just across the mountain range surrounding the Baltal area. Against the 8,999 feet altitude of Baltal base camp and the 5,702 feet altitude of the Pahalgam base camp, Minamarg is already located at the height of 10,800 feet. It means pilgrims have to trek only 1,959 feet of altitude compared to around 3,000 feet from Baltal and around 8,000 feet from Pahalgam, which is hard for most of the ailing and older pilgrims.

“Minamarg offers wide valleys. The valley up to the cave shrine is safe. Pilgrims can head for Amarnath both from Srinagar and Leh. The pilgrimage can be done in a day. It will also flip the economic activity of the otherwise remote pocket of Drass. The wide valley offers enough space for parking and other infrastructure,” said Mr. Gyalson.

He said pilgrims can even travel from Himachal Pradesh through the Zanskar Road to Drass to reach the cave shrine. “It offers beautiful sightseeing and a new landscape for snow lovers,” he said.

The Baltal route in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal distict is a 14 km one-way steep trek. In south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, the Pahalgam route is a 34-km trek.

For decades, the Amarnath cave shrine had only one route from Pahalgam in south Kashmir. The Baltal route in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal was thrown open in 1999 during the Farooq Abdullah government in Jammu & Kashmir. As per the Supreme Court guidelines, only 10,000 pilgrims are allowed per day from each route in Kashmir. The Ladakh route could offer a possibility of rotational pilgrimage to allow all the routes to rejuvenate its flora and fauna, in the wake of growing voices over environmental degradation.