Originally set to conclude on August 9, in conjunction with Raksha Bandhan, the pilgrimage, which began on 3 July, has now been called off effective August 3. The suspension applies to the Baltal and Pahalgam routes, the two main axes used by devotees to reach the sacred Amarnath cave shrine.
“Due to recent heavy rainfall and the need for track maintenance along both the Baltal and Pahalgam axes of the Shri Amarnathji Yatra route, the yatra movement has been closed on both the tracks,” Divisional Commissioner of Kashmir, Vijay Kumar Bidhuri was quoted assaying by PTI.
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“It has been observed that due to the continued deployment of men and machinery on the tracks from tomorrow, we would not be able to resume the yatra. The yatra will therefore remain suspended from 3rd August onwards from both the routes,” he said.
Officials added that the abrupt end was necessary to ensure the safety of the pilgrims and allow uninterrupted repair and restoration work. The region has seen a spate of heavy rainfall in recent days, which caused significant wear and damage to the trekking paths, raising the risk of accidents and disruptions.
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Despite the shortened schedule, this year’s yatra saw over 4.1 lakh pilgrims make the journey to the Himalayan shrine. However, the figure falls short of last year’s turnout, when more than 5.1 lakh yatris participated. Authorities have assured that repair work will continue and are expected to conduct a detailed review of the infrastructure in advance of next year’s yatra.
(Edited by : Jerome Anthony)