Srinagar/July, 28: Rains for fourth consecutive day on Sunday morning forced the suspension of amarnath Yatra from four base camps-Bhagwati Nagar in Jammu, Nunwan-Pahalgam in Anantnag district and Baltal in Ganderbal district and a decision to resume the yatra or otherwise would be taken later in the day depending on the weather conditions on the Yatra route. However, nearly 1,000 pilgrims who had reached the cave shrine situated at an altitude of 3,880 metre in south Kashmir Himalayas were allowed to offer prayers in the morning, said the authorities.
“To avoid any untoward incident, no pilgrim was allowed from the three main base camps — Bhagwati Nagar in Jammu, Nunwan-Pahalgam in Anantnag district and Baltal in Ganderbal district — Sunday morning,” they said.
Saying that the yatra from the base camps was suspended in view of the intermittent rains in wide parts of the state for the fourth successive day which rendered the tracks unsafe, the authorities said
‘the helicopter service was also suspended for the day due to bad weather’, adding that
‘all the yatris who had reached various halting stations enroute to the cave are safe’.
On Sunday, 990 pilgrims paid their obeisance till 10 am at the cave shrine, housing the naturally formed ice-shivlingam, raising the footfall so far this year to 3,18,816.
The 46-day yatra commenced from the twin routes — 36-km traditional Pahalgam in Anantnag district and a shorter 14-km Baltal track in Ganderbal district — on July 1 and is scheduled to end on August 15, coinciding with the festival of Raksha Bandhan.
State Meteorological Department Director Sonam Lotus said there was no forecast of any major change in the prevailing weather conditions.
“We expect significant fall in temperature at Baltal, holy cave and Sheshnag areas during next couple of days. Holy cave area may even get snowfall this (Sunday) evening,” said Lotus, urging the yatris to take necessary precautionary measures and wear woolen clothes and raincoats to stay warm.
He said significant improvement is most likely from August 1 onwards.
A total of 33 people including 29 pilgrims, two ‘sevadaars’ (volunteers) and two security personnel have died, mostly due to natural causes, since the commencement of the yatra this year.
Deaths due to cardiac arrest triggered by lack of oxygen in the area around the cave shrine have been common over the years, prompting the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board to issue regular health advisories to yatris .
As many as 40 pilgrims have taken ill or sustained injuries due to shooting stones and other causes since the commencement of the pilgrimage, the authorities said.
