Authorities have suspended this year’s annual Amarnath Yatra, just a week before its scheduled conclusion, due to the need for maintenance on the tracks that were damaged by recent heavy rainfall, officials said on Saturday.
The yatra, which began on July 3, was scheduled to conclude on August 9 on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan. The authorities decided to shorten it by a week, citing “critical repair and maintenance works” to be undertaken in the wake of the heavy rainfall.
“Due to recent heavy rainfall and the need for track maintenance along both the Baltal and Pahalgam axes of the Amarnath Yatra route, the yatra movement has been closed on both the tracks,” Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Vijay Kumar Bidhuri, said here.
“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.
Bidhuri said over 410,000 yatris visited the cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas.
Last year, over 5.10 lakh pilgrims pay their respects at the cave shrine.