The annual Amarnath Yatra has been suspended until August 3 due to urgent repair and maintenance work on both pilgrimage routes following heavy rainfall. The decision was made in the interest of pilgrim safety.
While the pilgrimage was initially suspended from the Pahalgam route on Friday morning and no new batch of pilgrims was allowed to proceed, the yatra was briefly permitted from the Baltal route. However, due to continuous heavy rains, it was later suspended from the Baltal route as well. The movement of pilgrims from the Bagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu has also been halted for the second consecutive day.
Kashmir Divisional Commissioner Vijay Kumar Bidhuri stated that recent heavy rains necessitated immediate repair and maintenance work, particularly on the Baltal Axis of the Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra route. He assured that further updates would be provided. Similar repair work is also underway on the Pahalgam route, which had previously been deemed unsafe due to torrential rains. The yatra had also been suspended on July 17 due to heavy rainfall at the base camps.
This year, over 4.05 lakh pilgrims have visited the Holy Cave shrine. Since July 2, when Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha flagged off the first batch, a total of 1,44,124 pilgrims have departed from the Jammu base camp for the Valley. Last year, over 5.10 lakh pilgrims paid obeisance at the cave shrine.
