Amarnath Yatra from Jammu base camp suspended on 4th anniversary of abrogation of Article 370

Jammu: The Amarnath Yatra remained suspended from the Jammu base camp on Saturday amid heightened security on the fourth anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370. No fresh batch of pilgrims left the base camp here for the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas on Saturday, officials said.

The officials, however, gave no reason for the suspension of the yatra for the day. Hundreds of pilgrims had reached the base camp but were told to stay put for the day.

The Centre revoked Article 370 granting special status to Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the erstwhile state into two Union territories –- J-K and Ladakh -- on August 5, 2019.

Tight security arrangements have been put in place across the Union Territory to maintain peace, officials said.

They also said that there is a sharp decline in the number of pilgrims reaching Jammu for the yatra over the past week and the administration is mulling to run the pilgrim convoy from Jammu to Srinagar on alternate days instead of daily.

The drop in the pilgrim footfall at the cave shrine is attributed to the melting of naturally formed ice-shivlingam, they said.

Nearly 4.15 lakh pilgrims have visited the 3,880-metre high holy cave shrine from the twin tracks of the traditional 48 km Pahalgam route in Anantnag district and 14-km Baltal track in Ganderbal district since the commencement of the annual pilgrimage on July 1.

The 62-day pilgrimage is scheduled to end on August 31.