Inclement weather and rain swelled valley's main river Jhelum on Sunday and halted pilgrimage to the Amarnath shrine in south Kashmir. However, pilgrims were allowed to move in north Kashmir's Sonamarg area after the weather improved.
The authorities once again issued alert to those living near the banks of Jhelum on Monday when intermittent rains, on since Friday, swelled the river. The water level in Jhelum was up by more than six feet, crossing alert mark in Srinagar.
However, irrigation and flood chief engineer Javeed Jaffer clarified that there was no flood threat.
The Jhelum water was flowing around 19 feet on Sunday in Srinagar, above the alert mark.
The rains also disrupted traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu highway.
The Shri Amarnath Shrine Board decided not to allow pilgrims to move from base camps up to the cave shrine after rains continued to lash in and around cave treks in the morning. The pilgrimage was stopped on Sunday due to heavy rainfall and slippery tracks.
However, the Baltal route in North Kashmir's Sonamarg area was thrown open in the afternoon and the pilgrims were allowed to trek the 14 km track up to the shrine. However, more than 40 km trek from Pahalgam side was kept closed for the day due to tracks turning unfit for trekking.
{{/usCountry}}However, the Baltal route in North Kashmir's Sonamarg area was thrown open in the afternoon and the pilgrims were allowed to trek the 14 km track up to the shrine. However, more than 40 km trek from Pahalgam side was kept closed for the day due to tracks turning unfit for trekking.
{{/usCountry}}Around 1.49 pilgrims have visited the shrine since July 2 from the twin routes.