Amaranth Yatra suspended due to bad weather in Jammu and Kashmir

Jammu: The annual Hindu pilgrimage Amarnath Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir was stopped on Sunday due to inclement weather, police said. [caption id=“attachment_2321258” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Amarnath yatra. PTI[/caption] Heavy rainfall triggered landslides leading to the blockade of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway at Gangroo in Udhampur district. “No yatri was allowed to proceed towards the Kashmir Valley due to blockade of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway,” a police officer here told IANS. It has been raining heavily in the Jammu region and the valley since Sunday morning. Heavy rains have swollen most rivers and water bodies in the region. The yatra from both the north Kashmir Baltal and south Kashmir Pahalgam base camps has been halted. “No pilgrim will be allowed to move towards the cave shrine from either of the base camps till the weather improves,” said a government official in Srinagar. So far around 1.50 lakh pilgrims have performed this year’s Amarnath Yatra by having ‘Darshan’ of the Holy ‘Lingam’ inside the Himalayan cave shrine situated 14,500 feet above the sea level in south Kashmir Anantnag district. The Yatra which began on July 2 will end on August 29. IANS