Srinagar: On Wednesday, the Annual Amarnath Yatra remained suspended after both the routes were shut following a landslide in Baltal that killed three and injured on Tuesday last evening.
“Movement of pilgrims along the Baltal and Pahalgam routes has been suspended for the time being,” officials said.
The Mughal Road connecting Poonch and Rajouri districts in the Jammu region with Shopian, in South Kashmir was also closed owing to landslides.
Officials told GNS that incessant rains at Chhatapani along the highway caused landslides which kept the road close. Efforts were underway to restore traffic, they added.
Earlier, on Tuesday, a landslide at Baltal had killed three Amarnath yatris and injured one.
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The yatra had earlier been halted due to bad weather but had resumed after the weather had improved in the afternoon. It was officially started early on Thursday, after batches of pilgrims started their progress to the camps on Wednesday. The MeT had forecast rain and thundershowers in the valley for the next 48 hours till Saturday.
The Governor of JK NN Vohra had urged the pilgrims to have faith in the armed forces. Vohra, who is also the chairman of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB), told the pilgrims that they should have confidence in the forces.
“There won’t be any difficulty in the yatra,” Vohra said. In 2017, eight pilgrims were killed and 13 others injured in the attack on an Amarnath yatris bus.
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