Srinagar: The Amarnath Yatra located in the South Kashmir Himalayas has been temporarily postponed from 23 August. The reason given for this is the ongoing repair work on both roads leading to the cave. Due to this, there has been a decrease in the number of pilgrims. After this, the Amarnath Yatra has been temporarily postponed from 23 August.
According to an official spokesperson of the Amarnath Shrine Board, the Chhadi Mubarak, which is the sacred rod of Lord Shiva, will proceed through the traditional Pahalgam route on August 31 to mark the conclusion of the yatra. Since the commencement of the 62-day journey from both routes, more than 4.4 lakh pilgrims have visited Baba Barfani. The traditional 48-km-long Pahalgam route in the Anantnag district and the 14-km-long Baltal route in the Ganderbal district were made operational on July 1.
Road construction work in progress
Quoting Shrine Board officials, the spokesperson said, “Due to a significant reduction in the movement of pilgrims and urgent repair and maintenance of travel routes on sensitive stretches by the Border Roads Organization (BRO), movement of pilgrims on both the routes leading to the holy cave has been restricted.” is not appropriate.’
The number of pilgrims was reduced due to the melting of Shivling
He said, ‘Therefore the yatra will be temporarily suspended from both routes from 23rd August. Chhadi Mubarak will proceed through the traditional Pahalgam route on August 31 to mark the conclusion of the yatra. With the melting of the naturally formed ice Shivling in the temple, the movement of pilgrims started declining from 23 July. Meanwhile, a fresh batch of 362 pilgrims left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in a convoy of 11 vehicles on Sunday to join the yatra.
Accident with these pilgrims on the 18th of August
Earlier on August 18, a 50-year-old pilgrim had died while returning from the holy Amarnath cave as he slipped and fell 300 feet near Kalimata. Vijay Kumar Shah, a resident of Tumba village in Rohtas Bihar district, and Mamta Kumari, another passenger, while returning from the holy cave, slipped near Kali Mata and fell 300 feet. The passenger was jointly rescued by the Mountain Rescue Team and the Indian Army, but later died.
