Amarnath Yatra briefly disrupted due to fresh landslides

The fresh batch of Amarnath yatris, who left Jammu on Friday morning, reached Yatri Niwas camps in Ramban. Ramban is 121 kms from Jammu city

The annual Amarnath Yatra encountered a brief disruption on Friday morning after overnight rains triggered fresh landslides and mudslides on 270-km-long Jammu-Srinagar national highway in Ramban district, officials informed.

A pilgrim offers prayers at the Amarnath cave temple in Anantnag on Thursday. (ANI Photo)

“The Jammu-Srinagar national highway was blocked due to landslides and mudslides at multiple places following heavy rains on Thursday night in Ramban district. The NHAI was immediately pressed into service and we are hopeful of restoring the affected stretches by another one to two hours,” Shabir Malik, SSP Traffic national highway, said.

No fresh vehicle will be allowed from either side till the debris is cleared. However, he informed that the fresh batch of Amarnath yatris, who left Jammu on Friday morning, reached Yatri Niwas camps in Ramban. Ramban is 121 kms from Jammu city.

“They will leave for Pahalgam and Baltal base camps in Kashmir in another an hour or so,” he added.

Additional deputy magistrate of Ramban district, Harbans Lal Sharma, who is the nodal officer for Amarnath Yatra, said, “There were heavy rains last night and as a result the highway was blocked at multiple places, but the clearance work was taken up immediately.”

“Right now, around 4,000 Pahalgam-bound pilgrims and around 2,100 Baltal-bound pilgrims, who left Jammu early this morning, are having their breakfast at Yatri Niwas camp in Chanderkote and Nashri, respectively,” he added.

Meanwhile, a 55-year-old man died due to landslide in Mandi area of Poonch district. The deceased was identified as Abdul Karim.