Amarnath Yatra suspended till August 3 due to 'urgent repair works'

Srinagar/Jammu: The annual Amarnath Yatra was Friday suspended till August 3 in the interest of safety of pilgrims as "urgent repair and maintenance works" are being undertaken on the twin routes of the pilgrimage following heavy rains, officials said.

On Friday morning, while the pilgrimage remained suspended from the Pahalgam route and no fresh batch of pilgrims was allowed to proceed to the cave shrine, the yatra was allowed from the Baltal route, they said.

However, owing to heavy rains, the yatra was later suspended from the Baltal route as well, they said.

The movement of the pilgrims remained suspended from the Bagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu for the second consecutive day.

"Due to the recent heavy rains, repair and maintenance works are required to be undertaken on the Baltal Axis of Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra route. In the interest of safety of the yatris, no Yatra will be allowed on 3rd August from the Baltal route also," Kashmir Divisional Commissioner Vijay Kumar Bidhuri said.

He said further updates will be issued in the due course of time.

Bhiduri said there have been recent heavy rains in yatra area on both Pahalgam and Baltal axis, and so, maintenance works of urgent nature are required to be carried out on the Baltal Axis following this heavy rainfall.

Torrential rains in Kashmir had rendered the roads unsafe, following which the pilgrimage was suspended on both the Baltal and Pahalgam routes on Wednesday.

The requisite repair and maintenance works are already being carried out on Pahalgam route of the Yatra, the divisional commissioner added.

On July 17, the yatra was suspended due to heavy rains at the twin base camps in Kashmir.

So far this year, more than 4.05 lakh yatris have paid obeisance at the Holy Cave shrine, he said.

A total of 1,44,124 pilgrims have departed from the Jammu base camp for the Valley since July 2, when Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha flagged off the first batch.

Last year, over 5.10 lakh pilgrims paid obeisance at the cave shrine, which houses a naturally formed ice lingam.