Amarnath Yatra suspended for fourth day amid bad weather across J&K

The annual Amarnath Yatra remained suspended for the fourth consecutive day on Wednesday as heavy rainfall, flash floods and cloudbursts continued to batter Jammu and Kashmir, forcing authorities to keep all major religious pilgrimages in the Union Territory on hold.

Officials said no pilgrim was allowed to proceed towards the Amarnath cave shrine from either the Baltal route in Ganderbal district or the traditional Pahalgam route in Anantnag district.

The suspension follows an adverse weather forecast issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), which prompted the administration to halt all pilgrimages from the evening of 18 July.

The restrictions also remain in place for the Mata Vaishno Devi Yatra in Katra, the Shiv Khori pilgrimage in Reasi and the Machail Mata Yatra in Kishtwar.

Authorities said all pilgrims staying at transit camps and base camps at Baltal and Nunwan (Pahalgam) were safe. Devotees have been instructed not to move until weather conditions improve and fresh official clearance is issued.

Around 2,800 pilgrims remain stranded at the Nunwan base camp, awaiting permission to resume their journey. While most devotees stranded at Baltal were allowed to proceed for darshan on Tuesday, no fresh movement from Nunwan was permitted because of continuing rain.

The suspension has also affected pilgrims travelling from Jammu to the twin base camps for the third consecutive day. Around 6,000 pilgrims are currently staying at Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas and the adjoining Asha Ram Bapu Ashram in Jammu, while more than 2,000 devotees have returned to their home states after prolonged delays caused by the weather.

Officials said several hundred pilgrims are also accommodated at other transit facilities, including Pantha Chowk in Srinagar, Baltal in Ganderbal and Chanderkot in Ramban district. Hundreds of sadhus remain housed at Geeta Bhawan and Ram Mandir in Jammu, where charitable organisations continue to operate community kitchens to provide free meals.

The IMD has forecast unsettled weather across Jammu and Kashmir until 24 July, prompting authorities to maintain restrictions on pilgrimage routes as a precaution.

Despite the disruption, more than 3.91 lakh devotees have visited the Amarnath cave shrine since the 57-day pilgrimage began on 3 July.

The pilgrimage to the Himalayan shrine, situated at an altitude of 3,888 metres, is scheduled to conclude on 28 August, coinciding with Shravan Purnima and Raksha Bandhan.

With IANS inputs