Amarnath Yatra temporarily suspended as flood takes a toll on Jammu & Kashmir

Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir had sounded a flood alert on 29 June as the Jhelum river rose above the critical 21 feet mark at Sangam in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district due to heavy rains over the past two days. The officials in the valley had sounded an alert at that point in time so as to avoid further distress being caused to the human lives.
“Due to inclement weather and bad condition of the roads both in Baltal and Pahalgam routes. Amarnath Yatra will remain suspended today,” Jammu Police Control Room said.
The third batch of pilgrims who began their yatra from Bhagwati Nagar base camp and undertook the journey via Pahalgam route was stopped at Tikri base camp due to landslides triggered by heavy rainfall, reports news agency ANI.
A precautionary measure was undertaken by taking into account the flood-like conditions and heavy rainfall which led to the pilgrimage being halted temporarily. The pilgrims were housed in a big hall at Trikri base camp and were also served food.

On Friday, a landslide at Gangroo near Ramsu along the 260-km long Jammu-Srinagar national highway – the only all-weather road connecting Kashmir with rest of the country, left hundreds of vehicles, including the convoy carrying Amarnath pilgrims, stranded. The Amarnath pilgrims had reached Makarkoot when the landslide struck.
Heavy rains in Banihal-Udhampur sector had also triggered landslides and shooting of stones at four places at Panthal, Nedgard, Digdol and Samroli on 29 June, blocking the highway, the officials said.
Security has been heightened to avoid any untoward incident. “Our personnel are patrolling 24×7. We’ve also got special dog squad to help us detect suspicious objects and we have also started a helpline, Senior Superintendent of police, Railways.
The 60-day annual pilgrimage was scheduled to start from Pahalgam in Anantnag district and Baltal in Ganderbal district Thursday morning. Over two lakh pilgrims have registered for the annual pilgrimage to the 3,880 metre high cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas. The yatra is scheduled to conclude on August 26 coinciding with the ‘Raksha Bandhan’ festival. Last year, over 2.6 lakh people registered for the annual pilgrimage.
They added that the situation will be reviewed once the weather improves and that all pilgrims were safely lodged inside the two base camps.
Sonam Lotus, Director of the MET department, said the weather would improve towards the afternoon.
“Due to slippery trek routes and bad weather, no Yatri was allowed to move towards the Cave Shrine from either base camp.” officials said.
Jammu and Kashmir Governor N. N. Vohra has called for an emergency meeting to discuss the flood-like situation in the state.

Officials have also issued an alert as the Darhali River in Rajouri overflowed on Friday due to heavy rainfall.
The water level in Jhelum at Ram Munshi Bagh in the city was 13.34 feet at 6 pm yesterday, over 4.5 feet below the flood declaration level. An official of the Irrigation and Flood Control Department said the people living in areas along the embankments of River Jhelum, other streams and in low lying areas were advised to remain vigilant.
An official of the Met Department said south Kashmir’s Kokernag, in Anantnag district, received the highest rainfall of 63.4 mm till 8:30 am yesterday morning, while the neighbouring Qazigund received 58.6 mm of rainfall.
Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, recorded 12.6 mm rainfall till 8:30 am yesterday but the intensity increased after that, the official said.

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Pahalgam received 27.8 mm of rains. The rainfall has led to an increase in the water level in streams and rivers across the valley especially in south Kashmir, news agency PTI reported.
Syed Abid Shah, Srinagar Deputy Commissioner told ANI that in view of the inclement Jammu weather and as a precautionary measure all schools in the Kashmir division will remain closed today. A flood alert has also been sounded after the Jhelum River overflowed.
The water level was sharply increasing since yesterday morning, as there has been an increase of around one foot with each hour since 9 am. The fast-rising water levels have induced fear among the valley residents of a re-run of 2014 floods that caused widespread devastation and left over 300 persons dead.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tweeted questioning the PDP-BJP government’s work after the 2014 floods:

What was the PDP-BJP government doing after the devastating floods of 2014? What happened to the dredging of the Jehlum? Why was the carrying capacity of the flood channel not increased? Where did the money go? https://t.co/BkCqsXe6kD

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) June 30, 2018

Mehbooba Mufti had on June 28 wishing the Amarnath pilgrims a “fulfilling pilgrimage”.

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In south Kashmir after the water level crossed the flood declaration level of 21 feet at Sangam in Anantnag district of south Kashmir. following which the flood alert was sounded. While the water level at Sangam at 10 am this morning was 23.06 feet – still above the critical mark – the water has started receding there. At 9 am the water level there was 23.16 feet. Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Syed Abid Rasheed Shah said the people living in low-lying areas and embankments of river Jhelum in Srinagar were requested to be alert and prepared for evacuation.
Amarnath Yatra has resumed from both Pahalgam and Baltal after improvement in weather. Air sorties by administration have also resumed from Baltal, news agency ANI reported.