About 2.50 lakh pilgrims have visited the Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas in 15 days.
“The cumulative number of yatris to have performed darshans at the cave shrine has reached 2.51 lakh in the first 15 days of Yatra,” an official spokesman said.
The 38-day Amarnath yatra commenced from both the traditional Pahalgam and shortest Baltal route on July 3.
Pilgrims have been thronging the Shrine from all parts of the country and abroad since the beginning of the Yatra and have expressed great enthusiasm in undertaking this journey of faith apart from appreciating the services and efficient management in conduct of the Yatra.
Unprecedented security arrangements have been put in place by authorities for this year’s Amarnath yatra after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 25 tourists and a local pony wala were killed.
Meanwhile, Amarnath Yatra was suspended today from both Pahalgam and Baltal base camps. “Heavy continuous rains over last two days have necessitated restoration work to be carried out on tracks along both the routes. Border Roads Organization has made heavy deployment of its men and machinery on the tracks to complete the work before Yatra can be released from the two base camps on Friday,” an official spokesman said.
“Due to the continuous rains over last couple of days, urgent repair and maintenance works are required to be carried out on the tracks. Therefore, it has been decided that no movement shall be allowed towards the Holy Cave from the two base camps today.
However, yatris who stayed at Panjtarni camp during the preceding night are being allowed to proceed down to Baltal under adequate deployment of BRO and Mountain Rescue Teams.
“The Yatra shall resume in all likelihood tomorrow, depending upon the weather conditions during the course of the day", the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Vijay Kumar Bidhuri said.