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| Yatra from Baltal comes to grinding halt due to cloudburst | | Restoration of road by today | | Early Times Report
Srinagar, July 26: The yatra from Baltal side to holy cave has come to a grinding halt due to cloudburst in Baltal and other places on Sonamarg -Baltal road during late night hours on July 24 resulting into the death of three people and injury to others.
However the yatris who were camping at the Baltal or who were on their way to Base camp on July 24 and were trapped on the road in between Sonamarg and Baltal managed to reach the base camp after traveling some kilometers by foot and later left for darshan from the Base Camp.
According to an official spokesman,676 stranded pilgrims from Baltal base camp left for cave shrine early this morning by foot while 473 left by chopper. Besides, 476 pilgrims returned after performing darshan by chopper.
The restoration work on the Sonamarg-Baltal road which was hit by landslide at Fish point near Sonamarg two days back after cloudburst is on and most probably it will be restored for vehicular traffic by tonight or tomorrow morning.
However the continuous cloud bursts and heavy rains have affected the flow of pilgrims and the rush has decreased to a great extent during last one week. Meanwhile one laborer who was injured during the cloudburst at Baltal on July 24 and was admitted in SKIMS Soura breathed his last today. With this the total number of people killed in recent cloudburst at Baltal has touched 4, he added.
He has been identified as Abdul Qayoom of South Kashmir district of Shopian.
The spokesman said that weather was cloudy today also and it drizzled on both the tracks during the day but the movement of pilgrims was not affected.
He said 4632 pilgrims performed darshan at holy cave by this evening and majority of them had come via traditional Chandanwari track. The yatris after performing darshan are also taking the Panchtarni -Chandanwari track for return, he added.
He said the rush from Pahalgam track is still considerably good as 2953 pilgrims left for darshan from Nunwan Base camp early this morning while the pilgrims having night halt at Chandanwai, Sheshnag and Panchtarni also left for holy cave under tight security measures early in the morning.
Meanwhile Governor N.N. Vohra, Chairman of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB), reviewed the current status of the restoration works which were being carried out to clear the enormous debris which had flowed downhill near the Baltal Base Camp after heavy rains and or cloud burst on Friday night.
P. K. Tripathi, CEO, SASB stated that, under Chairman's orders, Jitendra Kumar Singh, Additional CEO, SASB, had rushed to the Base Camp early yesterday morning to co-ordinate the rescue and rehabilitation works. CEO informed the Governor that by deploying the required manpower and machinery, the enormous accumulation of debris had since been largely cleared and the parking space near the Base Camp had been restored for use. Governor was also informed that the road from Srinagar to Baltal is likely to be opened for two way traffic from Monday, for the movement of convoys of pilgrims from the Manigam Camp to Baltal.
One person who had been seriously injured in yesterday's cloudburst, Abdul Karim, resident of Shopian, who had been airlifted to Srinagar by the Shrine Board is responding well to the treatment at SKIMS, Srinagar. The other 10 persons, who had suffered minor injuries, have since been discharged from Baltal Base Hospital after receiving treatment.
Power and water supply are fully functional and sufficient stocks of essential commodities are also available at the Base Camp. All the Langars, except one which suffered some damage, are functioning normally in Baltal.
CEO informed that yesterday, despite stoppages and hold-ups on the Baltal end, the pilgrimage had continued without any interruption from the Pahalgam route; the helicopter services had been functioning and 4890 Yatris had "darshan" at the Holy Cave bySaturday evening, taking the total number of Yatris who had paid obeisance to 2,90,943.
Today morning, 676 Yatris from the Baltal route and 2953 Yatris from the Chandanwari route left for Holy Cave and 3924 Yatris, who had stayed overnight at the Sheshnag and Panjtarni Yatra Camps, had been able to complete their "darshan" by today afternoon.
The Governor was informed that, after the restoration of Srinagar-Baltal Road, the yatra was expected to resume vigour and momentum, from Monday onwards, if there were no unforeseen interruptions due to inclement weather. |
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