Thousands of devotees stranded as Amarnath Yatra remained halted for second consecutive day, fresh registration suspended [details]

For the second consecutive day, the Amarnath Yatra remained suspended due to incessant rains and landslides at different places on Jammu-Srinagar national highway.

Due to the suspension of the Yatra for a second day, thousands of pilgrims have been stranded in Jammu and at various places en route to the cave shrine.

Heavy rains have lashed large parts of Jammu and Kashmir since Thursday night while several high-altitude areas, including Mahaguns Top and adjoining areas near the Amarnath cave shrine, experienced snowfall.

The Yatra remains suspended from both the Pahalgam and the Baltal routes for the second day due to inclement weather.

All Deputy Commissioners directed to increase lodgement capacity

As thousands of devotees have been stranded at different places Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Ramesh Kumar today chaired a meeting of concerned Deputy Commissioners to review the arrangements in view of Yatra suspension due to bad weather conditions.

The Divisional Commissioner inquired about the number of Yatris accommodated in five districts of the Jammu division including Kathua, Samba, Jammu, Ramban, and Udhampur.

It was informed by the concerned Deputy Commissioners that around 6000 Yatris have been lodged in Yatri Niwas Chanderkote- Ramban, 600 in Udhampur, 6000 in Jammu, 1200 in Samba, and 1100 in Kathua district.

The Divisional Commissioner directed the concerned DCs to increase accommodation capacity in their respective districts and ensure uninterrupted water, and power supply to the lodgement centres. He also instructed the DCs to ensure that the EOCs (Control Rooms) function round the clock in all the districts.
The DCs were told to visit lodgement centres to oversee the provision of facilities to avoid any inconvenience to the pilgrims.
The Div Com also reviewed the status of the National Highway at Ramban and instructed DC Ramban and Project Director NHAI to mobilize adequate men and machinery to clear the road and maintenance of the traffic worthiness of the old road.

Registration is to be remained suspended on Sunday also.

Keeping in view the prevailing inclement weather, authorities have decided that registration and distribution of tokens for Yatra will also be suspended for tomorrow.

Fresh registration of devotees will be started only after some batches will leave from the base camp of Bhagwati Nagar.

The meteorological department has predicted widespread light to moderate rains, accompanied by thundershowers, under monsoon winds and western disturbances across Jammu and Kashmir until Sunday.

A portion of the Jammu-Srinagar national highway washed away

The vehicular traffic between Jammu and Kashmir on the national highway ( NH44) was suspended since the wee hours of Saturday as a portion of the highway washed away due to heavy rains.

A major chunk of the road section that connects T3 and T5 — which serves as a bypass to the Panthyal Tunnel was washed away due to heavy rain in the Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir.
The police officials have closed the National Highway until further clearance from the NHAI authorities. People have been advised to consult the Traffic Control Unit (TCU) before making any travel plans, tweeted Mohita Sharma, SSP Ramban.

Rohit Baskotra, SSP Traffic, National Highway, that NHAI has commenced the restoration work on the old alignment of NH44 to Panthyal in Ramban. This aims to make the roads motorable until the damaged sections are repaired.