JAMMU: Jammu and Kashmir Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha on Wednesday flagged off the first group of pilgrims for the Amarnath Yatra, which starts on Thursday.

Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha signalled the departure of the batch, which included 717 pilgrims, from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp on Wednesday at approximately 5.30 a.m. The Amarnath Yatra 2022 starts on June 30 and ends on Shravan Purnima, which falls on August 11 and is also the Raksha Bandhan festival.

Security personnel guarded a convoy of pilgrims as they went towards the Valley. The Yatra's routes via north Kashmir's Baltal and south Kashmir's Pahalgam are both escorted by hundreds of security personnel from the army, local police, and central armed police forces (CAPFs).

For the first time, authorities have fitted each pilgrim with an RFID tag so that his or her movements may be tracked for safety and security reasons.  On Wednesday, the MeT department predicted dry weather throughout both Yatra routes.  Eight lakh pilgrims are anticipated to participate in this year's Yatra, which is being hosted for the first time in three years, authorities said. 

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