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Flanked by political leaders and officials, including Jammu Mayor Chander Mohan Gupta, BJP leader Devender Rana and Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, the lieutenant governor flagged off
the convoy of buses and other vehicles carrying pilgrims on their inward journey to the twin basecamps in Kashmir. "The pilgrimage has been begun from Jammu. The convoy, flagged off by
the L-G, has left for Kashmir from here," Jammu Mayor Chander Mohan Gupta told reporters. He said all arrangements have been made to provide comfort to the pilgrims. Daleep Singh, a
devotee from Barmer in Rajasthan, said, "There is no fear, no threat, only unbridled passion to reach the cave shrine quickly and have a glimpse of Lord Shiva." Asha Devi, who is a
part of an over 40-member group of pilgrims from Kanpur, said, "We urge people from all over the country to come and pay obeisance at the cave shrine." Multi-tier security
arrangements have been put in place in and around the base camps, lodging, registration and token centres with the deployment of over 5,000 security personnel in the Jammu city, officials
said.