Early Times Report
Srinagar, May 23: In view of the accumulation of more than 8 feet of snow on traditional and shortest routes and continued bad weather, an uphill task was ahead for authorities to commence annual pilgrimage to holy Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir Himlayas from June 28.
The snow clearance operation on both the routes has been affected due to prevailing weather conditions, official said adding the snow clearance work will get momentum only if there is a sunny spell for 7-10 days.
Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra, who is Chairman of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), along with Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Rakesh Kumar Gupta, conducted an aerial survey of the Yatra area along the Chandanwari, Sheshnag, Panjtarni on the Pahalgam axis and Sangam and Baltal on the Baltal axis, to get first hand impression about the existing snow accumulation levels yesterday.
It was observed that the entire Yatra area from Chandanwari onwards on the Pahalgam axis and from Domel onwards from the Baltal axis has very heavy snow accumulation.
As almost all the pre-fabricated and permanent structures are still buried under snow upto roof level it is assessed that the entire area is still 8-10 feet of snow.
The restoration of tracks from Chandanwari onwards is being taken up by the Pahalgam Development Authority (PDA) on traditional Pahalgam-Holy Cave axis and by the State Public Works Department (PWD) on the Baltal-Holy cave axis.
However, this work shall be able to gain momentum only if there is a sunny spell for 7-10 days as at present, the speed of work has been significantly affected on account of the prevailing weather conditions.
However, the SASB impressed upon all the agencies to ensure that the tracks are cleared of the snow and all the facilities required for the yatra are put in place well before the commencement of the pilgrimage on June 28. |
