Days after the annual pilgrimage began after a gap of two years due to the COVID pandemic, officials on Tuesday said the Amarnath Yatra has been postponed due to inclement weather.
According to officials, pilgrims will not be allowed to move from the Nunwan base camp in Pahalgam towards the naturally formed snow-shivaling cave temple.
About 3,000 pilgrims were stopped on Tuesday morning at the Nunwan base camp in Pahalgam, officials said. Another batch of about 4,000 pilgrims, who had left from Jammu for the Pahalgam route, was stopped at the Yatri Niwas at Chandrakot in Ramban district. Pahalgam is about 90 km away from Srinagar, the capital of Jammu and Kashmir.
However, about 2,000 pilgrims who had left for the Jammu to Baltal route were allowed to proceed.
The pilgrimage started from two base camps – Nunwan camp in Pahalgam, Anantnag district and Jamju and Baltal camp in Kashmir’s Ganderbal district.
The first batch of pilgrims reached the Pahalgam base camp last week.
The pilgrimage was suspended for two years due to the coronavirus before it started on June 30. Since then more than 72,000 pilgrims have worshiped at the temple.
The yatra will end on August 11, on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan.
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Monday visited the Amarnath Yatra base camp in Baltal to take stock of the facilities.
The Amarnath pilgrimage is held annually at the 3,880 m high cave temple of Lord Shiva in the upper reaches of the Himalayas.
Meanwhile, the Army on Monday airlifted the seriously injured Amarnath pilgrim to the nearest medical facility from the Barimarg helipad on the Baltal track in Jammu and Kashmir after his pony lost balance and fell nearly 100 feet towards the Sindh river. .
The pilgrim has been identified as 50-year-old Satyanarayan Toshneyar from Akola, Maharashtra.
According to a defense spokesperson, the pilgrims were returning to the base camp along with their daughter and wife after having darshan at Pony. At Brimarg, the pony lost its balance and the pilgrim fell about 100 feet towards the Sindh river.
He further informed that the Indian Army rescue team along with MRT reached the spot and escorted them to the Army Medical Aid Post at Bararimarg Army Camp. The man had a serious head injury and a chest fracture. We immediately took him to the Bararimarg helipad from where he was airlifted to a medical facility.