Amarnath Yatra on track from Baltal in Kashmir, suspended from Jammu today

In view of maintenance work on the Pahalgam axis of the pilgrimage route following heavy rain, the yatra will continue only through the Baltal axis.

The Amarnath Yatra resumed from the Baltal axis in the Kashmir Valley on Thursday but was suspended from Jammu due to inclement weather conditions. No fresh batch of pilgrims was allowed to proceed from Jammu to the cave shrine on Thursday, officials said.

A member of the Jammu and Kashmir Police’s Mountain Rescue Team (MRT) stands guard as pilgrims move towards the holy cave shrine during the annual Amarnath Yatra in Anantnag district on Thursday. (PTI Photo)

In view of maintenance work on the Pahalgam axis of the Amarnath Yatra route following heavy rain, the yatra will continue only through the Baltal axis. Torrential rain in Kashmir had rendered the roads unsafe, following which the pilgrimage was suspended on both the Baltal and Pahalgam routes on Wednesday.

“The yatra resumed this morning from the Baltal route,” an official said, adding, “In view of maintenance works required to be carried out on the Pahalgam axis of the Amarnath Yatra route following the recent rain, the yatra shall continue only through Baltal axis.”

The official said that no convoy movement would be allowed towards the Baltal and Nunwan base camps from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu on Thursday.

Jammu divisional commissioner Ramesh Kumar said that due to heavy rain in the yatra area, the movement of pilgrims from the base camps in Kashmir has been affected. “Therefore, it was decided that no convoy movement shall be allowed towards the base camps at Baltal and Nunwan from Bhagwati Nagar, Jammu on July 31,” he said.

The pilgrims were housed in the high-security Bhagwati Nagar base camp for their further journey to the twin base camps of Pahalgam and Baltal on Friday.

This is the second time the yatra has been suspended from Jammu this monsoon.

On July 17, the yatra was suspended due to heavy rain at the twin base camps in Kashmir.

Over 3.93 lakh pilgrims have paid obeisance at the ice lingam of Lord Shiva at the 3,880-metre high cave shrine since the 38-day pilgrimage commenced from the Valley on July 3.

A total of 1,44,124 pilgrims have departed from the Jammu base camp for the Valley since July 2, when lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha flagged off the first batch.

Last year, over 5.1 lakh pilgrims paid obeisance at the cave shrine.

The pilgrimage is scheduled to end on August 9, coinciding with the Raksha Bandhan festival.