Amarnath Yatra suspended from Jammu amid bad weather, low pilgrim numbers

No fresh batch of pilgrims allowed to leave for Kashmir as authorities monitor weather and Jammu-Srinagar highway conditions

The Amarnath Yatra was suspended from Jammu on Saturday amid inclement weather, a forecast of heavy rain over the next few days and a decline in pilgrim arrivals, officials said.

No fresh batch of pilgrims was allowed to leave the Bhagwati Nagar base camp for the Kashmir Valley this morning, they said.

Officials said the administration is monitoring the situation and will review the movement of pilgrims based on the weather and the condition of the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country.

More than 475,000 pilgrims have so far visited the 3,880-metre-high holy cave shrine of Amarnath in the Kashmir Himalayas since the Yatra began on July 3. The 57-day pilgrimage is scheduled to conclude on August 28, coinciding with Raksha Bandhan.

 

According to an advisory issued by the local Meteorological Department, heavy to very heavy rain is likely at isolated places in the Jammu region, with the possibility of flash floods and landslides till August 11.

Despite light to moderate rain early Saturday morning, traffic on Jammu-Srinagar national highway was plying smoothly, officials said.