Amarnath Yatra Resumes via Baltal, Jammu Movements Halted

Srinagar/Jammu, Jul 31 (PTI): The Amarnath Yatra has recommenced from the Baltal axis in the Kashmir valley as of Thursday, though it remains suspended from Jammu due to adverse weather conditions.

Officials reported that this morning, no new groups of pilgrims received the green light to travel from Jammu to the sacred cave shrine located in the South Kashmir Himalayas.

Following recent rainfall and the subsequent need for maintenance on the Pahalgam route, the pilgrimage is solely using the Baltal path for the time being.

The torrential rains experienced in Kashmir had made roads hazardous, resulting in a temporary suspension of the yatra on both the Baltal and Pahalgam routes on Wednesday.

An official confirmed, "The yatra resumed this morning via the Baltal route."

They further explained that, "Due to necessary maintenance work on the Pahalgam axis after the recent rains, the pilgrimage will continue exclusively through Baltal."

It was stated that convoy movements toward the Baltal and Nunwan base camps from Bhagwati Nagar in Jammu would be halted on Thursday.

Ramesh Kumar, the Divisional Commissioner of Jammu, commented on the situation stating, "The heavy rains in the yatra vicinity have affected pilgrim movements from the Kashmir base camps."

He explained, "Thus, a decision has been made to stop convoy traffic to the Baltal and Nunwan base camps from Bhagwati Nagar, Jammu on July 31."

Pilgrims are currently stationed at the secure Bhagwati Nagar base camp as they await their journey to the secondary base camps of Pahalgam and Baltal on Friday.

This marks the second suspension of the yatra from Jammu, with the first occurring on July 17 due to heavy rains at the base camps in Kashmir.

Since the commencement of this 38-day pilgrimage on July 3, over 3.93 lakh devotees have offered prayers at the ice lingam of Lord Shiva, located at the 3,880-meter cave shrine.

A total of 1,44,124 devotees have left the Jammu base camp for the Valley since Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha launched the event's first batch on July 2.

In the previous year, more than 5.10 lakh pilgrims visited the shrine.

The yatra is anticipated to conclude on August 9, in conjunction with the Raksha Bandhan festival.

(Only the headline of this report may have been reworked by Editorji; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)