Amarnath Yatra temporarily suspended following heavy rainfall

Srinagar| July,14: Amarnath Yatra was on Thursday (July 14) morning temporarily suspended due to inclement weather.  No Yatri was allowed to move towards the holy cave from both Pahalgam and Baltal camps.Earlier, the yatra was stopped following heavy rainfall on July 5 and after a massive cloudburst on July 8. Meanwhile, over 1.44 lakh Yatris have performed the ongoing Amarnath Yatra as another batch of 5,449 pilgrims left Jammu for the Valley on Thursday.
        Officials of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) said 1,44,457 yatris have performed the Yatra so far while 16,457 of these had Darshan on Wednesday. Another batch of 5,449 pilgrims left Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu in two escorted convoys for the Yatra. Of these, 3783 are going to the Pahalgam base camp while 1666 are going to the Baltal base camp. Those using the shorter Baltal route have to trek 14 kms to reach the cave shrine while those using the longer traditional Pahalgam route have to trek 48 kms for four days to reach the cave shrine.
Helicopter services are available on both the routes for the Yatris. The annual 43-day pilgrimage commenced on June 30 (after a gap of over two years due to Covid-19) from the twin base camps — Nunwan in Pahalgam of south Kashmir’s Anantnag and Baltal camp in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district. The Yatra is scheduled to end on August 11 on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan.