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| Pilgrims not allowed from Jammu | | Fresh batch of over 15,000 pilgrims leaves for Amarnath | | Early Times Reporter
Jammu & Srinagar | June 25
Over 15,000 pilgrims proceeded to the shrine of Amarnath from the base camps of Nunwan and Baltal in Kashmir this morning even as devotees camping in Jammu were stopped from moving to the holy cave.
Pilgrims putting up at Bagwati Nagar camp in Jammu were not allowed to proceed to the twin base camps located on the foothills of south Kashmir Himalayas, officials said.
This is the second time within a week that the yatra was suspended from Jammu. Earlier, on June 20, the march from Jammu was suspended due to bad weather and heavy rains across the valley.
Although officials said the pilgrims were stopped at Jammu due to heavy rush at the base camps in Kashmir, sources said the prevailing law-and-order situation in the wake of violent protests across Kashmir Valley prompted authorities to stop the pilgrims as a precautionary measure.
A part of a glacier caved in at Sangam, three km ahead of the 3,880-metre-high cave where the twin tracks of Pahalgam and Baltal meet, yesterday afternoon prompting authorities to suspend the yatra temporarily. However, the track was restored last evening and the stranded pilgrims were allowed to move to their respective destinations.
Chanting religious slogans, a fresh batch of 7,590 pilgrims left Nunwan base camp on the 46-km Pahalgam route in Anantnag district this morning to pay obeisance at the cave housing the naturally formed ice-Shivlingam.
Another batch of 7607 devotees were allowed to proceed towards the cave shrine from Baltal, the shortest 12-km route in Ganderbal district.
The yatra was going on smoothly from both the tracks, the officials said.
However, a 55-year-old pilgrim Tilak Raj from Punjab died of cardiac arrest at Sheshnag on the Pahalgam route this morning.
In another incident, police said another pilgrim was killed and six others were injured, when the vehicle carrying them skidded off the road and rolled down into a gorge near Ramban, 138 km from here, this morning.
The number of devotees who have passed away since the commencement of the annual yatra this year has gone up to 15.
Sources said the rush to the cave shrine through the Pahalgam and Baltal routes has increased rapidly with over 2.83 lakh devotees already performing 'darshan' of the holy ice lingam till last evening since the commencement of yatra on June 17.
Of them, 44,256 pilgrims visited the cave shrine yesterday, they said.
Some pilgrims got stranded at Baltal on their way back to Srinagar due to day-long protests in Ganderbal against the diversion of forest land to the Amarnath shrine board. However, they were allowed to move after the road bloackades were removed late last evening. |
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