Bad weather in Kashmir puts a temporary stop to Amarnath Yatra

The Amarnath Yatra was suspended on Friday due to bad weather as rain lashed many parts of Kashmir, officials said. The yatra was suspended along both the Baltal and the Pahalgam routes, they said.

"The yatra has been suspended and no pilgrim is being allowed to move towards the holy cave shrine this morning," the officials said.

According to Senior Superintendent of Police (Ramban) Mohita Sharma, the yatra has been halted in the district's Chanderkote area.

"The yatra has been suspended due to inclement weather in the Pahalgam belt," Sharma told PTI.

Heavy showers, which started early on Friday, forced the temporary suspension of the pilgrimage, the officials added.

The pilgrims have been stopped at the Baltal and the Nunwan base camps.

According to officials in Jammu, while a batch of 4,600 pilgrims on its way to the Pahalgam base camp have been stopped in Chanderkote, another group of 2,410 devotees travelling to the Baltal camp has been allowed to proceed.

The yatra will resume once the weather improves, the officials said.

On Thursday, 17,202 pilgrims paid obeisance at the holy cave shrine, taking the cumulative total of devotees who have had 'darshan' of the natural ice lingam formation in the south Kashmir Himalayas to 84,768 so far.

The 62-day annual pilgrimage to the 3,888-metre-high cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas commenced from the twin tracks of Pahalgam in Anantnag district and Baltal in Ganderbal district on July 1. The yatra is scheduled to conclude on August 31.