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Amarnath Yatra: Army prepares alternative route amid cloudburst threat
The annual pilgrimage - that started on June 30 after a gap of two years - is held from two routes: the Baltal route and the Pahalgam route
The Amarnath Yatra resumed on Monday after it was halted for two days owing to the cloudburst tragedy that claimed 16 lives. In order to avoid a similar situation, the army has prepared an alternate route towards the cave bypassing the water channel that caused havoc after the cloudburst on Friday evening near the holy cave.
“Specialised mountain and avalanche rescue teams have been continuously working to find any possible signs of life in the snow bridge near cave complex. After the decision was taken to resume the Amarnath Yatra from 11 July, there was an immediate need to create a different route to the holy cave for the yatris away from the water channel,” Defense spokesman Emron Masuvi said adding that troops from Army immediately set to task and worked overnight to clear the area and prepare an alternative route, carrying out ground levelling and preparing stairs using sandbags.
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The annual pilgrimage - that started on June 30 after a gap of two years - is held from two routes: the Baltal route and the Pahalgam route.
“The Amarnath Yatra resumed from Yatri Niwas base camp in Jammu city on Monday morning. 3,010 pilgrims left for Pahalgam base camp at 4.30 am and 1,016 pilgrims left for Baltal base camp at 3.30 am, another official said.
On Friday evening, a cloudburst took place near the shrine, triggering flash floods, chaos and confusion.
A massive rescue operation took place with the armed forces, disaster response forces and the Jammu and Kashmir police, all coming together to ensure the safety of the injured.
Director SDRF and Civil Defense Haseeb ur Rehman said that rescue operation is going on. “To trace missing, the rescue operation is underway.”
