New Delhi: According to the information, the pilgrims have been allowed to proceed towards the Amarnath holy cave from the Nunwan base camp in Pahalgam, South Kashmir. The Amarnath Yatra on the Pahalgam route resumed on Sunday afternoon following an improvement in weather conditions, officials said. The journey on the second route, Baltal, has not started yet.
Meanwhile, the Srinagar-Jammu national highway remained suspended for the third consecutive day today as Amarnath pilgrims halted in Jammu could not proceed towards the Kashmir Valley. The weather has improved in the Kashmir Valley. The water level in the Jhelum River and other rivers, which were running above the danger mark, has now started receding.
Over 6,000 Amarnath Yatra pilgrims are stranded at Ramban following the suspension of the yatra, officials said. At least 80 people from Karnataka were stuck at Panchtarni, six kilometres from the Amarnath cave, due to adverse weather conditions, the Karnataka government said on Saturday.
Ramban Deputy Commissioner Musarat Islam told the news agency NAI that the administration is taking all steps to ensure that the pilgrims do not face any problems. He said that the Amarnath Yatra was suspended on Saturday due to bad weather. We have all the facilities available for the pilgrims in the ‘Yatri Niwas’ here. We are taking all possible steps to ensure that the pilgrims do not face any problems.
The official further informed me that the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway (NH 44) is closed for vehicular traffic at Ramban due to landslides. Meanwhile, cargo trucks are stranded at Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir due to the closure of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway.
At least 67,566 pilgrims have visited the Amarnath cave shrine since the start of the yatra on July 1. On July 5, around 18,354 pilgrims left for the Amarnath cave shrine from both Baltal Base Camp and Nunwan Base Camp.