Amid heavy rain and landslides, the Amarnath Yatra remained suspended for the second consecutive day on Saturday. Thousands of pilgrims remained stranded in Jammu as well as Kashmir on both Pahalgam and the Baltal routes. The Army and the administration came to help at least 3,600 pilgrims, stranded at different points in Kashmir, providing them warm clothes, food and tents. Srinagar-based Army’s Chinar Corps stated that all of the pilgrims were safe. An official said over 2,000 pilgrims coming to Jammu were stopped in Kathua to avoid overcrowding of the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu.
Urging the pilgrims not to panic, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said officials were monitoring the situation.
A part of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway (NH-44), between the T3 and T5 tunnel that bypasses the landslide-prone Panthyal tunnel, was washed away due to incessant rain, causing traffic suspension on the vital road link, said Ramban SSP Mohita Sharma. NHAI engineers were unable to complete the restoration work due to heavy rain. The Mughal road, the other link to Kashmir, was also shut due to landslides. It was thrown open later. The NH-44 remained closed till filing of this report.
At the same time, two soldiers drowned while crossing the Dogra nullah at Poshana in Surankote area of Poonch. The body of one of them was found late evening on Saturday.
An alert was issued for Ramban, Doda, Kathua and Samba in Jammu region, urging the residents not to go near the water streams.
