Amarnath Yatra On Baltal Route Resumes 4 Days After Cloudburst

Flash floods near the shrine on July 8 had killed at least 15 people while 30 people were reported missing, forcing the temporary suspension of the pilgrimage. 

Amarnath pilgrims on their way to holy shrine cave.

New Delhi: The Amarnath Yatra resumed on Tuesday on Baltal route in Ganderbal district of Jammu and Kashmir after it was suspended for four days following flash floods near the holy shrine cav which claimed 15 lives and left several injured, said the officials, reported news agency PTI. A fresh batch of pilgrims left the Baltal base camp earlier this morning for the cave shrine, they said. 

Flash floods near the shrine on July 8 had killed at least 15 people while 30 people were reported missing, forcing the temporary suspension of the pilgrimage. 

The pilgrimage had resumed on Monday via the Pahalgam route, as per the report. 

Meanwhile, a batch of 7,000 Amarnath pilgrims left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu city under tight security arrangements on Tuesday morning, officials said, as per another PTI report. 

Amarnath Yatra resumes on Baltal route in Ganderbal district after remaining suspended for four days

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 12, 2022

The 13th batch comprising 7,107 pilgrims left in 265 vehicles in two separate convoys for the twin base camps of Pahalgam and Baltal in the Kashmir Valley, the report stated quoting officials. They said while 1,949 devotees left in 98 vehicles for Baltal around 3.40 am, 5,158 pilgrims left in 175 vehicles for the Nunwan-Pahalgam base camp around 4.30 am. 

Cumulating these numbers, a total of 76,662 Amarnath pilgrims have left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp for the Valley so far since the start of the pilgrimage on June 29, when the JK Lieutenant Governor flagged off the first batch. 

The 43-day-long pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas commenced on June 30 from the twin tracks — the traditional 48-km Nunwan-Pahalgam route in south Kashmir's Anantnag district and 14-km shorter Baltal in central Kashmir's Ganderbal district.

The pilgrimage is scheduled to conclude on August 11 on the occasion of ‘Shravan Purnima’ coinciding with Raksha Bandhan.