Jammu, June 28 -- With barely five days left for the annual Amarnath pilgrimage, two top officials of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday said all arrangements have been made for the smooth and peaceful conduct of the 38-day long pilgrimage to south Kashmir Himalayas. Over 180 companies of various paramilitary forces will be deployed to guard the pilgrims, police said. Addressing mediapersons here, Jammu divisional commissioner Ramesh Kumar said lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha would flag off the first batch from Yatri Niwas base camp at Bhagwati Nagar on July 2. "We have made elaborate arrangements for the comfortable and secured stay of pilgrims in various government lodgement centres and community halls of various social and religious organisations," said Kumar. He also informed that all arrangements for their boarding and lodging including food, potable water, medical facilities and electricity have been made at the lodgement centres which are 106 in number this time, capable of housing 50,000 people. "All these centres will be guarded 24x7 by the security personnel," he added. The 38-day-long yatra is scheduled to start on July 3 from the twin routes - the traditional 48-km Pahalgam route in Anantnag district and the shorter but steeper 14-km Baltal route in Ganderbal district - leading to the 3,880-metre-high holy cave shrine of Amarnath. Jammu zone IGP Bhim Sen Tuti said, "Apart from deployment of police, 183 companies of various paramilitary forces will be deployed right from Lakhanpur in Kathua district to Banihal in Ramban district for the security of pilgrims." For the first time, Lakhanpur-Jammu national highway (NH 44) will be sanitised by road opening parties, he added. "This year, even better arrangements are being made in terms of the number of paramilitary forces personnel, deployment in sensitive areas or CCTV surveillance. Compared to previous editions, more vigilant and multi-layered security is being ensured," he added. He said that from road opening parties to CCTV cameras, everything has been set up and security has also been provided at community kitchens and lodging centres. Though Lakhanpur-Jammu national highway is safe, this time around road-opening parties will be deployed, said Tuti....