Amarnath Yatra from Jammu is still suspended for the fourth straight day

Due to the substantial damage to the Ramban part of the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, which forced its closure on Tuesday, the Amarnath Yatra was postponed for a fourth day in a row, leaving 15,000 pilgrims stranded in Jammu and other locations. The highway had to be closed to traffic on Monday because of damage caused by unrelenting rain, particularly on the segment that runs through the Ramban area, according to the authorities.

Even if they have to wait days to see the Amarnath cave shrine, the pilgrims are unfazed and enthusiastic despite the yatra’s suspension.

“From Jammu, the yatra has not yet commenced. In light of the highway’s shutdown, it is still on hold. On Tuesday, no new batch was permitted to leave the Jammu base camp for Kashmir, a senior official informed PTI.

On Monday evening, traffic officials issued a warning, noting that the state of the roads had significantly improved as a consequence of the administration’s and the National Highways Authority of India’s (NHAI) joint efforts during the day. However, it will likely take some more time to finish the repair. As a result, the government has decided to maintain the suspension of the highway’s traffic until Tuesday, it said.

Around 8,000 pilgrims are stuck in Jammu due to the suspension of the yatra, especially at the Bhagwatinagar base camp, according to authorities. The Chanderkot base camp in Ramban district is also home to over 6,000 stranded pilgrims. The Kathua and Samba camps are hosting up to 2,000 stranded pilgrims.

The authorities said that more pilgrims keep coming to Jammu to continue their trip to Amanarth. “The amount is increasing. However, the majority of them are being housed at different lodging facilities, according to one of them. All feasible measures are being taken, according to Divisional Commissioner Ramesh Kumar and the deputy commissioners who are keeping an eye on the situation.

When the highway is completely fixed, the yatra will continue from Jammu, according to Kumar. But on Sunday, the yearly pilgrimage, which had been postponed from the Pahalgam and Baltal base camps in Kashmir because of heavy rain and bad weather, was restarted.

The sole all-weather road connecting Kashmir with the rest of the nation is the 250 kilometre Jammu-Srinagar motorway. Floods brought on by the heavy rain on Saturday and Sunday swept away portions of the roadway. Officials from the Ramban District Administration said that attempts are being made to reopen the route to traffic.

On the route between Ramban and Lakhanpur, almost 5,000 cars are stuck. On July 1, the 62-day yearly pilgrimage to the 3,888-meter-high Amarnath cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas started.

Since June 30, seven separate groups of 43,833 pilgrims have left the Jammu base camp for the cave sanctuary. On August 31, the trip is supposed to come to an end.