The Amarnath Yatra resumed on Monday morning with over 400 pilgrims having left for the Holy Cave for darshan by air and over 2700 pilgrims having already performed the darshan.
Also, all the stranded pilgrims at the Baltal and Pahalgam Base Camps have left for Jammu.
Around 25000 Amarnath pilgrims, who boarded 1612 vehicles from Baltal and 129 vehicles from Pahalgam, crossed the Jawahar Tunnel this morning, stated Jammu and Kashmir Police.
All the stranded Yatris at the Base Camps of Baltal and Pahalgam have left for Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Police.
— ANI (@ANI_news) July 11, 2016
About 25000 Yatris boarding 1612 vehicles from Baltal and 129 vehicles from Pahalgam crossed the Jawahar Tunnel this morning: J&K Police. — ANI (@ANI_news) July 11, 2016
People observed a bandh in Doda and Kishtwar districts in Kashmir in protest against the alleged killing of innocent civilians during the security forces firing and the death of Burhan Wani. Several organisations, including Anjuman-e-Islamia and Imams of local mosques, have called for bandhs in the Valley.
All shops and business establishments were shut and no vehicles plied on the roads in the two districts. No untoward incident was reported owing to the deployment of central forces and state police personnel at various locations due to tension, local media reported.
"No Yatri will be allowed to move towards the Valley from Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in Jammu city today... The Yatra has been suspended due to the prevailing law and order situation in the Valley," a senior police officer was quoted by IANS as saying.
Meanwhile, the Tourism Department has provided for bus services to take the stranded pilgrims to RS Pura tehsil along the international border between India and Pakistan in an attempt to promote border tourism and at the same time keep the pilgrims occupied.
Several pilgrims reached Srinagar via air.
All stranded load carriers with registration numbers of the Valley are being asked to move towards Banihal from Jammu to clear the traffic on national highways.
The incident has had an adverse impact on tourism in the state with several tourists making arrangements to immediately leave the Valley over safety concerns and also because there was nothing to "do in Kashmir right now".
"We are stuck inside this hotel and cannot go anywhere – neither Gulmarg nor Sonmarg. They will probably not attack tourists, but we do not want to be caught in the crossfire," Mohammed Ali, a 37-year-old social activist from Dhaka, who was in the Valley with his family on a vacation, was quoted by the daily as saying, while trying to book flight tickets to Bangladesh via Kolkata.
"Tourists who are already here are rushing to the airport and many who were scheduled to come are cancelling their tickets," Omar Nazir Tibet Baqal, owner of Srinagar-based Labaika Tour and Travel Agency, was quoted by Hindustan Times as saying.
Minister of Home Affairs Rajnath Singh was scheduled to chair a high level meeting on the current situation in the state at noon on Monday.
