Nearly 20,000 devotees had the darshan of the naturally formed ice-lingam of Lord Shiva, since the yatra began on Tuesday as nearly 5,000 more yatris proceeded to the holy cave shrine of Shri Amarnathji through Baltal route in South Kashmir Himalayas today.
However, Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) has made it clear that accumulation of snow and fresh snowfall at certain places along Pahalgam-Chandanwari route has ruled out any possibility of commencing the yatra on traditional route before June 25.
According to a spokesperson of the SASB, another batch of 4800 yatris left from the Baltal base camp for the holy cave this morning.
As many as 6875 yatris had darshan of Shri Amarnathji yesterday while 7592 paid obeisance at the cave on first day of the pilgrimage.
Keeping in view the adverse weather conditions, no batch of yatris left from Jammu today for Baltal.
Giving the status of the Chandanwari-
Sheshnag (Km 11-12) is still partially under snow and the track across Sheshnag is being maintained over compressed snow. Sheshnag camp site is partly under snow, while the langar site is fully under snow.
However, security forces and Jammu and Kashmir Police have arrived, the tentage is being erected and the culvert side is being cleared of snow avalanches at Sheshnag, he added.
The spokesperson said the stretch of track from Km 13-16 in Wavbal-Mahagunas area is fully under snow and fresh snowfall has hampered the pace of track clearance work.
In the meantime, at the asking of the Shrine Board, a special team of Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering (JIM), which had left Nunwan (Pahalgam) on a reconnaissance mission on June 16, had reached Sheshnag on June 16 night and has since moved further up in Mahagunas sector.
The JIM team is likely to return to Pahalgam by June 20, after reaching up to the holy cave and reviewing the route once again on their return journey, he said.
The team is expected to submit a full and comprehensive report to the Governor on its findings on the existing status of the track and the feasibility of opening the same for the Yatra, he added.
As per preliminary reports, snow accumulation at the Sheshnag Camp is over five feet and the entire track is under a thick layer of snow. Further, the obtaining weather conditions, particularly on the traditional route, continue to be challenging.
In the circumstances, the spokesperson has advised all the intending pilgrims who are registered for traveling along the Chandanwari-
To remove any confusion in the matter, the spokesperson stressed that the backlog of yatris who had registered on the Pahalgam route will not be able to commence yatra in any case before June 25.
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