Amarnath Yatra stalls as rain pours

SRINAGAR — The Amarnath Yatra remains suspended on twin routes of Baltal and Pahalgam due to bad weather conditions on Friday as rains lashed Kashmir Valley, officials said.

Officials told the news agency KNO that Amarnath Yatra has been suspended by authorities after heavy rains. “The Yatra remains suspended due to bad weather and only 2,630 pilgrims performed Yatra today (Friday) till 12:00 pm,” officials said.

They said 3,200 pilgrims have been halted at Nunwan Pahalgam base camp and 7,000 pilgrims at Baltal base camp. The officials, however, said the Yatra will resume once the weather improves. “The officials said a total 87,398 devotees have performed Yatra till date,” they said.

Furthermore, over 300 pilgrims, who were carrying fake permits, have also been given permits after fresh registration at on-the-spot counters in Jammu. “These pilgrims were duped by the travel agencies by providing them fake registration documents for their Yatra. Three persons have been arrested in this connection so far,” officials added.

Meanwhile, the 8th batch comprising of 7,010 pilgrims on Friday left Baghwati Nagar base camp Jammu towards the valley in a cavalcade of 247 vehicles.

“Among them, a batch of 4,600 pilgrims on its way to Pahalgam base camp has been halted at Chanderkot Yatri Niwas in Ramban district while another batch of 2,410 devotees travelling to the Baltal camp has been allowed to proceed to their destination,” the official added.

The 62-day annual pilgrimage to the 3,888-metre-high cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas commenced from the twin tracks of Pahalgam in Anantnag district and Baltal in Ganderbal district on July 1. The Yatra is scheduled to conclude on August 31.