NEW DELHI, INDIA, March 21, 2004: Those devotees planning to undertake the month-long Amarnath Yatra to a cave high in the mountains of Jammu and Kashmir State with an ice Siva Lingam will now have two months to complete the trek after it opens on July 1. The Shrine Board says, “Crowd control measures, on the pattern followed by Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, would be enforced, with a proposal to impose a ceiling of 2,000 pilgrims from the Baltal side and 3,000 from the Pahalgam side under consideration.” The article says, ” It was also proposed to raise US$4.3 million from various sources including private sources to improve infrastructure along the route, which would include motorable road till Sheshnag and about 35 shelters with basic amenities. Amarnath shrine board has also decided to do away with the practice of registration at various places in the country.”
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