THE Amarnath yatra from the three main base camps was suspended on Sunday due to widespread intermittent rains in Jammu and Kashmir for the fourth successive day, with the weather department predicting snowfall in the cave area, officials said.

 

However, nearly 1,000 pilgrims who had reached the cave shrine situated at an altitude of 3,880 metre in south Kashmir Himalayas were allowed to offer prayers in the morning, they said. “To avoid any untoward incident, no pilgrim was allowed from the three main base camps -- Bhagwati Nagar in Jammu, Nunwan-Pahalgam in Anantnag district and Baltal in Ganderbal district -- on Sunday morning,” a yatra official said. He said the yatra from the base camps was suspended in view of the intermittent rains in wide parts of the state for the fourth successive day which rendered the tracks unsafe. The helicopter service was also suspended for the day due to bad weather, the official said. All the pilgrims who had reached various halting stations enroute to the cave are safe, he said.

 

On Sunday, 990 pilgrims paid their obeisance till 10 am at the cave shrine, housing the naturally formed ice-Shivlingam, raising footfall so far this year to 3,18,816. The 46-day yatra commenced from the twin routes -- 36-km traditional Pahalgam in Anantnag district and a shorter 14-km Baltal track in Ganderbal district -- on July 1 and is scheduled to end on August 15, coinciding with Raksha Bandhan. State Meteorological Department Director Sonam Lotus said there was no forecast of any major change in the prevailing weather conditions.