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| Amarnath yatra suspended due to inclement weather | | |
Early Times Report
SRINAGAR: The annual Amarnath pilgrimage was suspended today after heavy snowfall and rains rendered the twin tracks to the cave shrine unsafe.
"No pilgrim was allowed from the base camps of Baltal in Ganderbal district and Nunwan along the traditional Pahalgam route in Anantnag district this morning," official sources said.
The yatra was suspended from both the tracks because of fresh snowfall and incessant rains, the sources said.
They said three inches of snow had accumulated in the cave shrine area, while a massive landslide triggered by incessant rains blocked the shortest 16 km Baltal route near Rail pathri last evening.
The rains also rendered the traditional 45-km Pahalgam track slippery besides there was a threat of avalanches in the snowbound Mahagunas and Panjtarni along the ardous route, the sources said.
With the improvement in weather this morning, authorities pressed into service labourers and cleared the landslide at Rail Pathri, paving the way for return journey of the pilgrims stranded at the cave shrine due to imclement weather since last evening, the sources said.
They said the pilgrims who had reached Sheshnag and Panjtarni yesterday were also allowed to move towards the cave shrine for ‘darshan’ of the naturally formed ice-shivlingam.
The yatra was also suspended for a day along the Pahalgam route on Friday but as the weather improved a batch of 6,786 pilgrims were allowed to proceed towards the cave shrine yesterday, the sources said.
A total of over 1.84 lakh pilgrims visited the cave shrine since the commencement of the annual two-month yatra on June 15.
The inclement weather failed to have any affect on the helicopter service. "The chopper service was going on smoothly," the sources said.
Meanwhile, two seriously ill patients were airlifted from Panjtarni along the Pahalgam route by Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB).
The pilgrims identified as Shekhar Chand of Madya Pradesh and Abi Nawrang of Haryana were taken on a chopper to Baltal base camp and provided treatment, the sources said.
As many as 22 persons including 20 pilgrims have died of various causes since the commencement of the yatra this year
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