2 lakh pilgrims perform Amarnath yatra

Army, IAF on alert; movement of yatris stopped Over 2 lakh pilgrims perform darshan

The forward movement of yatris was suspended today from both shortest Baltal track and traditional Nunwan-Pahalgam track due to sudden change in weather conditions forcing authorities to put Army and Indian Air Force (IAF) on alert to deal with any eventuality.

However 7,837 pilgrims left the Nunwan-Pahalgam base camp this morning for their onwards sojourn while 10,050 pilgrims left the Baltal base camp for holy cave but due to the sudden change in the weather conditions and heavy down pour at holy cave and yatra area the forward movement of pilgrims was stopped later from Chandanwari, Sheshnag and Panjtarni.

As the heavy rains resulted in slippery track the pilgrimage was also stopped from the Baltal route from 0730 hrs.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) R K Goyal said in view of the sudden change in weather conditions and Special Weather Advisory forecasting heavy rainfall along the entire Shri Amarnath Yatra area later today, the forward movement of the devotees from Chandanwari, Sheshnag and Panjtarni towards the holy cave was stopped immediately, around 1230 hrs this afternoon.

He added that this decision has been taken to ensure the safety and security of yatris.

Army, Air Force and other agencies have been put on alert in view of the abrupt change in weather conditions and the expected heavy rains in the pilgrimage area, to provide the required support to the pilgrims, in case of any emerging situation.

The yatris have been advised to be confined to their respective camps and those enroute must reach the nearest camp locations in view of the heavy rains to avoid any inconvenience to them.

Meanwhile, Governor N N Vohra, who is chairman of the SASB, has directed half hourly monitoring of the situation in the area.

According to a Special Weather Advisory issued by the Met Department for the Pahalgam route, for today and tomorrow, the sky will remain generally cloudy with rain or thundershowers and likely isolated heavy rainfall from Jammu to Pahalgam and beyond up to the holy cave.

Similar weather conditions have been forecast for Banihal- Srinagar-Baltal-holy cave sector for today and tomorrow with the sky remaining generally cloudy with rain or thundershowers and isolated heavy falls.

A yatra official from Baltal said that the sky is very cloudy and the decision to allow devotees will be taken only after receiving green signal from the officials posted at different points on the track.

He said the weather was a bit pleasant at Pahalgam and Baltal but it was raining at Chandanwari, Sheshnag, Panjtarni and holy cave.

He said yatris who left Baltal base camp before 0730 hrs are safe and will continue their journey towards the holy cave once the weather improves.

It may be recalled that the yatra was yesterday suspended from Pahalgam route after 1330 hrs due to slippery track conditions following rains but was later resumed in the evening.

Meanwhile, the majority of yatris who left from Panjtarni and Baltal to holy cave early this morning had performed the darshan of Ice Shivlingam in holy cave situatuted in deep Himalyas in South Kashmir district of Anantnag and were on their way back. All the yatris were safe and sound, a spokesman of Shrine Board said. Despite heavy downpour over 23,755 pilgrims performed darshan in holy cave till last reports came in today. Earlier 1.84 lakh pilgrims had performed darshan in cave shrine till yesterday. With this the total number of pilgrims performing the darshan in holy cave has crossed the two lakh mark since yatra started on June 29.

A pilgrim and a CRPF Jawan died due to heart attack at Baltal last night, taking the death toll in this year’s yatra to 29.

M S Raja Narsimha, a resident of Bangalore, suffered a heart attack during the intervening night, the officials said.

A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnal died near the holy cave shrine last night, official sources said here.

He was identified as Inderjeet Kumar, son of Basuran, resident of Uttar Pradesh. He was posted at Baltal base camp.

Kumar had gone to have darshan of the self-made ice Shivlingam in Amarnath cave shrine situated at 12,500 feet above sea level.

However, last night, he suffered a massive heart attack. He was immediately taken to a nearby health centre where he died.

Meanwhile Deputy Chief Minister, Tara Chand today visited Nunwan and Chandanwari to take stock of the facilities being provided to yatris.

He was accompanied by a team of senior officers of various departments. He also chaired a meeting of the officers of line departments camped at these two places and reviewed the arrangements made by the Government for smooth conduct of the yatra.

The Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag Kifayat Ahmad Rizvi apprised him of the arrangements made by the administration for the pilgrims right from Jawahar Tunnel to holy cave.

However, the unprecedented influx of Amarnath pilgrims continued with thousands of yatris daily reaching Jammu from different parts of country for their onwards sojourn to holy cave.

A fresh batch of 3772 pilgrims left the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas Jammu for holy cave early this morning under tight security arrangements.

The pilgrims, including 2633 males, 804 women, 88 children and 198 Sadhus, left in a cavalcade of 118 vehicles amid heavy rains at around 0500 hours.

Till now, a total of 1.88 lakh pilgrims had visited the cave shrine and offered their prayers after having ‘darshan’ (glimpse) of the ice-lingam, they said.

To take the stock of the arrangements the Deputy Commissioner, Jammu, Sanjeev Verma today visited the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas and other lodging sites across the city where the pilgrims are putting up.

He was also accompanied by senior officers of various departments. He issued directives to Executive Engineer PHE to ensure safe drinking water to pilgrims and urged the Xen PDD to avoid unnecessary power cuts in Yatri Niwas. Besides, he interacted with yatris and enquired about the facilities.