The annual Amarnath Yatra has been suspended for the second consecutive day on the twin routes of Baltal and Pahalgam due to bad weather conditions in the state, officials said on July 8.
According to the officials, inclement weather conditions in the union territory caused a delay to the annual Amarnath Yatra and suspended the Yatra from both the Pahalgam and the Baltal routes.
Fresh batches of pilgrims were not permitted to depart Jammu to begin their Yatra due to the closure of the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway as a result of weather advisory and heavy rains in Kashmir valley, they said.
Meanwhile, Jammu & Kashmir Traffic Police also issued an advisory and urged the general public not to travel on the NH-44, Mughal Road, and the SSG Roads that were blocked due to the occurrence of two landslides.
“Traffic update at 6:25 am. NH-44, Mughal Road and SSG Road are blocked due to 2 landslides. People are advised not to travel till clearance,” tweeted Jammu & Kashmir Traffic Police.
A total of 67,566 pilgrims have visited the Amarnath cave shrine since the beginning of the Yatra on July 1.
About 18,354 pilgrims on July 5 left for the Amarnath cave shrine both from the Baltal base camp and Nunwan base camp performed the darshan.
“These include 12483 males, 5146 females, 457 children, 266 sadhus, and 2 sadhvis,” an official statement said.
“The total number of yatris who performed Darshan since the beginning is 67566. More yatris will visit the shrine in the coming days,” it added.
According to the official spokesperson, pilgrims are being assisted during their entire journey by state agencies and civil departments by making all the essentials and facilities available to devotees.
“All the departments including Police, SDRF, Army, paramilitary, Health, PDD, PHE, ULB, Information, Labour, Fire and Emergency, Education, and Animal Husbandry have saturated the overall requirements and arrangements of SANJY by the deployment of their men and machinery,” it mentioned.
Under the supervision of Camp directors, the entire facilities are extended to yatris, including Langers, health facilities, assistance by service providers including poniwallaa, pithuwalas, dandiwalas, sanitation, and many other assistance, the statement said.
The 62-day-long Shri Amarnath Yatra will culminate on August 31, 2023.
On July 1, the annual Amarnath Yatra began with the first batch of pilgrims starting their journey from Baltal base camp in Jammu Kashmir’s Ganderbal to Amarnath Cave.
The 62-day Yatra, which commences on July 1 and culminates on August 31, is an important pilgrimage for Hindus who visit the Amarnath Cave, believed to be the abode of Lord Shiva. It will start from the ancient paths of Nunwan in Pahalgam and Baltal in the Ganderbal district of Kashmir, where pilgrims will set off on their solemn trek.
The pilgrims will undertake a 12-km journey from the base camp to the holy Amarnath cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas, located at an altitude of about 13,000 feet.
The first batch of pilgrims reached Baltal base camp in Jammu & Kashmir’s Ganderbal on June 30 for Amarnath Yatra 2023. They were received by the district administration at Kali Mata Temple at Tikri in Udhampur district in Jammu & Kashmir.
Jammu & Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha flagged off the first batch of Amarnath Yatra pilgrims from the Jammu base camp on June 30. In preparation for the Yatra, various ‘langar’ committees started their practice on June 28, three days in advance, to cater to the pilgrims.
Earlier, on June 29, a large number of pilgrims reached the Yatri Niwas Base Camp in Jammu ahead of the commencement of the annual Amarnath Yatra on July 1.
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