Pre-don darkness at the Chandanwari base camp has not stopped thousands of pilgrims who fill the air with holy mantras. It is 4 o’clock in the morning, and the pilgrims have gathered at the staging point, steel for the most fierce section of the Amarnath Yatra – notorious flea top.
This is less than a week in the 38-day pilgrimage, the authorities are already reporting the death of a pilgrim. For pilgrims in the Chandanwari base camp, there is a 3-kimi trek that will test every ounce of their devotion. The path moves upwards to the winds, climbing 11,000 feet above sea level, where a breathing becomes difficult with each step and gravity tries to crush your souls. For decades, this route remained exactly the same as nature carved – a mud mark was engraved in the mountain, so narrow that two pilgrims could pass hard.
Now, the trekking route is widened and confirmed, adorned with closing the tiles against the raw mountain face. Solar-operated Street Lights Alpine Darkness, Handrils and Safety Walls guide loyalty with the paths of this treacherous trek.
But it has come at a cost. Where once white glacial currents are cascade in the bright edges of diamonds, now only the debris mound is saved. Trees are cut off, their branches separated to accommodate wide routes. The price of progress is written in the mark in the scenario.
Suraj had not yet left the dead peaks of Kashmir when Parvati held her hiking rod, her knuckles had white against Messd Wood. Wearing a simple gray shirt and pajamas, only wearing feet in sandals, is weak but firm. Next to him, son Rishabh panicked and shifted – he left the school to make a trek. “This was my husband’s plan. My son will miss school, but we are here as a family. We are not surrounded by a terrorist attack. But I am afraid of these mountains,” he said.
Around them, the opposite contrast between pilgrims became clear. Some modern courageous, sports jackets, appropriate hiking shoes and carefully planned provisions. Others embodied raw belief, in which the trek barefoot in ordinary knees and shirts swinging cigarettes with their lips.
Poonam Sharma, Santosh Sharma, Babita Devi, and Ansu, all from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, have taken a break to catch their breath. “This time there are a lot of toilets on the way,” Poonam saw, although she quickly added: “But some of them are relaxed. We do what we can do.”
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By 9:30 am, as soon as the temperature increased, the dust mark began its tireless test.
An experienced pony handler Nisar Ahmed, with pilgrims with eight years of experience, raised the mask of his face against vortex dust. “This is the hottest month in the last 8 years,” he said.
The sun climbed brutally. The pilgrims that began with enthusiasm now merged, giving their enthusiasm to the harsh reality of high-heating trekking. He joined for the patch of Chhaya, collapsing on some rocks, even expecting the smallest relief.
Mother and children started breaking up with tiredness. The men who had earlier paid 20 rupees for Nimbu Pani and Cucumber had now asked these simple lifesies. Every few meters pilgrims swoop on their hiking.
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Swami Digambara from Pune, darkness with his saffron sweat, stumbled towards a mountain rescue team officer, pointing hard on an oxygen cylinder. The officer and along with the doctor, the doctor examined him with efficiency practiced before taking his decision: “Ischee Lat Lat Lag Jayagi Toh Ik Bina will be hated (once you are used for oxygen cylinders, you can’t do without it),” the officer argued.
Digambara rested moment -out, then continued his journey, when he was assured that the track would be plain in a while.
Shadab Ahmed, a Jammu and Kashmir police officer with the Mountain Rescue Unit, said: “We have participated with a height disease to 40 pilgrims. Most of them are young in a group of 25–35 years of age. This is because they lead a motionless lifestyle.
Dinesh Chawla from Delhi reached his breaking point – his body refused to take another step. His friends were sprayed with black salt with cucumber slices. As soon as he slowly rejuvenated, he shook his head, refused to continue. His friends start chanting: “Bomb bombs”. The sound was ripped through the crowd, adding strangers to shared devotion. Gradually, Chawla got his feet and started moving again.
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As the old mud track merged with a new pucca route near the old mud flea top, the complexity of managing this holy place became clear. A tourist was killed by a pony navigating from a crowded road. The information cracks through radio communication for BSF officials reached strategic command stations on high land. They faster on pony handlers for very minor infections.
The handlers protested together, “We are Yahan Seva Karne Aye.
In such a difficult trek, water becomes the ultimate currency. Shanti Devi of Bihar, who arrived with a group of 34, found herself alone, separated from dehydration. “I can’t move forward, I can’t go back,” she whispered. “There should be water on the way. They are selling water for 50 rupees.”
By 3 pm, the pilgrims arrived at the Shashanag camp, the mountain started claiming its ancient authority. Ominus declarations were cracks through the wind: “Bhaiya Meen Sultanpur is divided by Pyarelal.
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Through the night, these desperate calls continued as the scorching heat of the day bitten the cold winds.
In the base camp hospital, Dr. Nishra Ahmed participated in more than a dozen patients, who conquered the tough trek. “Most of the patients are suffering from high-height disease,” Dr. Ahmed said. “They complain of shortness of breath, headache. A male patient, at the age of 40, died.”
Express (T) Current Affairs
