Amarnath Yatra suspended from Jammu due to inclement weather
STATE TIMES NEWS
PAHALGAM: Camping overnight at Nunwan in Pahalgam to oversee the rescue and relief operations, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Sunday said that efforts are being made to resume the Yatra as soon as possible.
“Dedicated measures are being taken to ensure the safety and well-being of the pilgrims”, the Lieutenant Governor said while interacting with Yatris staying at the base camp and reviewing the arrangements at healthcare facilities and Langars
Sinha added that providing better facilities to pilgrims is government’s top priority.
The Lt Governor lauded the commendable efforts and swift action of the J&K Police, Army, CAPFs, NDRF and civil administration during the rescue and relief operation for saving the precious lives.
Earlier, during the meeting with the officials at the Nunwan Base camp, the Lt Governor was briefed about the rescue and relief operations, debris clearance, deployment of machinery and manpower, camp wise breakdown of the pilgrims, besides the arrangements and efforts put in to facilitate the Yatris.
Nitishwar Kumar, Principal Secretary to Lt Governor; Pandurang K Pole, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir; Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, Secretary to the Government, Tribal Affairs Department; Vijay Kumar, ADGP Kashmir; Dr. Piyush Singla, Deputy Commissioner Anantnag, and other senior officers of Police, SASB and UT administration accompanied the Lt Governor.
Meanwhile, the Amarnath Yatra has been suspended from Jammu due to inclement weather conditions and no fresh batch was allowed to proceed from here to the base camps of the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas, officials said.
A flash flood triggered by a cloudburst near the cave shrine on Friday afternoon has led to the death of least 16 people. Around 40 people are still missing.
“Amarnath Yatra has been suspended from Jammu to twin base camps in Kashmir due to inclement weather. No fresh batch was allowed to move towards Amarnath” an official told PTI.
The annual 43-day pilgrimage commenced from the twin base camps — Nunwan-Pahalgam in south Kashmir’s Anantnag and Baltal in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal — on June 30.
Over one lakh pilgrims have offered prayers at the cave shrine, housing the naturally formed ice ‘shivling’, the officials said.
A total of 69,535 pilgrims have left in 10 batches from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu for the Valley since June 29, the day the first batch of pilgrims was flagged off by Lt Governor Manoj Sinha.
The yatra is scheduled to end on August 11 on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan.
