Amarnath Yatra In J&K Suspended From Tomorrow Due To Adverse Weather Conditions

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The yatra began on July 3 and was scheduled to conclude on August 9 on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan. However, authorities decided to shorten it by a week due to heavy rainfall.
The annual Amarnath Yatra in Kashmir will come to an end on Sunday (August 3), a week before it was supposed to end, due to heavy rainfall and its impact on the yatra route, which will now require maintenance.
The yatra began on July 3 and was scheduled to conclude on August 9 on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan. However, authorities decided to shorten it by a week, citing 'critical repair and maintenance works" to be undertaken in the wake of the heavy rainfall.
'Due to recent heavy rainfall and the need for track maintenance along both the Baltal and Pahalgam axes of the Shri Amarnathji Yatra route, the yatra movement has been closed on both the tracks," Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Vijay Kumar Bidhuri, said in a statement.
Bidhuri said over 4.10 lakh pilgrims visited the holy cave shrine. However, he said that 'due to the continued deployment of men and machinery on the tracks from tomorrow, we would not be able to resume the yatra. The yatra will therefore remain suspended from 3rd August onwards from both the routes."
Torrential rains in Kashmir had rendered the roads unsafe, following which the pilgrimage was suspended on both the Baltal and Pahalgam routes late last month. On July 17, the yatra was suspended due to heavy rains at the twin base camps in Kashmir.
A woman pilgrim died while three others sustained injuries on July 16 in a landslide incident along the Baltal route of the Amarnath Yatra in Ganderbal district of Jammu and Kashmir. Four pilgrims were washed downhill by a landslide at Railpathri along the Baltal axis to the holy cave.
This year, following a major terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22, the government deployed the highest number of troops ever for the annual yatra. In addition to the already extensive security presence in Kashmir, around 600 extra companies of paramilitary forces were assigned specifically for duties.
The Amarnath Yatra is an annual Hindu pilgrimage to the sacred Amarnath Cave Shrine, dedicated to Lord Shiva, located at an altitude of about 3,888 meters in the hills of Jammu and Kashmir. The cave houses a naturally formed ice Shivling, believed to represent Lord Shiva, and draws lakhs of devotees every year.
(with PTI inputs)
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