Amarnath Yatra resumes on Pahalgam route as weather improves

The annual Amarnath Yatra resumed on the Pahalgam route on Sunday afternoon, officials reported, following an improvement in weather conditions. The Baltal Yatra, on the other way, is yet to resume. Previously, the Yatra had been suspended since Friday due to inclement weather in Jammu & Kashmir.

Due to the shutdown of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, authorities stopped a group of worshippers at the Jammu Base Camp on Sunday. According to officials, 6,000 Amarnath Yatra passengers were trapped at Ramban following the suspension of the Yatra.

Following the severe weather circumstances, at least 80 Karnataka residents were stuck in the Panchtarni, six kilometers from the Amarnath cave, according to the Karnataka government on Saturday. Mussarat Islam, Deputy Commissioner Ramban, told ANI that the administration is taking every precaution to ensure that the pilgrims have a trouble-free journey.

“The Amarnath Yatra was suspended yesterday following inclement weather…We have all the facilities available here at the ‘yatri niwas’ for the pilgrims. We are taking all possible steps to ensure that the pilgrims don’t face any problems”.

The Jammu Srinagar National Highway (NH44) remains stopped for vehicular traffic at Ramban due to a landslide, according to the official.
Since the start of the Yatra on July 1, at least 67,566 pilgrims have visited the Amarnath cave shrine.

On July 5, around 18,354 pilgrims left for the Amarnath cave shrine from both the Baltal base camp and the Nunwan base camp to do the darshan. “These include 12483 males, 5146 females, 457 children, 266 sadhus, and 2 sadhvis,” according to an official statement issued earlier this week.