Amarnath Yatra Resumes After Six-Day Weather Suspension; Over 6,200 Pilgrims Depart from Jammu

JAMMU, Jul 25: The annual Amarnath Yatra resumed on Saturday after a six-day suspension caused by adverse weather conditions, with a fresh batch of 6,269 pilgrims leaving the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu for the Baltal base camp in Kashmir Valley, officials said. The pilgrimage had been suspended on July 19 as a precaution following persistent rainfall and unfavourable weather along both the traditional 48-km Pahalgam route in Anantnag district and the shorter 14-km Baltal route in Ganderbal district leading to the 3,880-metre-high holy cave shrine. According to officials, the 18th batch comprised 6,269 pilgrims, including 1,470 women, 25 children and 54 sadhus. The convoy of 223 vehicles departed under tight security at around 2:40 am for the Baltal base camp. No convoy was dispatched via the Pahalgam route, they added. The Yatra resumed after weather conditions improved and the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was reopened for traffic following a three-day closure caused by landslides and shooting stones at multiple locations along the Udhampur-Ramban stretch. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha had flagged off the first batch of pilgrims from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp on July 2, a day before the pilgrimage officially commenced in Kashmir. The annual pilgrimage is scheduled to conclude on August 28, coinciding with the festival of Raksha Bandhan. Officials said nearly four lakh devotees have paid obeisance at the holy cave shrine so far. Of these, around 1.20 lakh pilgrims began their journey from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu. Pilgrims travelling from Jammu continue to be escorted to the Kashmir Valley in secured convoys under elaborate security arrangements.