Supreme Court dismisses plea seeking cancellation of Amarnath Yatra; J&K admin to decide

As Jammu-Kashmir administration prepares for the annual Amarnath Yatra, Supreme Court on Monday, refused to entertain a plea seeking cancellation of the Amarnath Yatra. The apex court stated that it will not interfere in the issue and let the local administration take a decision regarding the Yatra. The annual Yatra has been curtailed to 15 days in the last week of July amid the Coronavirus pandemic.

J&K Chief Secretary puts cap of 500 Yatris on Amarnath Yatra from Jammu

Kashmir admin caps Yatris to 500 per day

On July 4, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary, B V R Subrahmanyam announced that a maximum of 500 yatris only could be allowed per day by road from Jammu to the 3,880-meter-high holy cave shrine of Amarnath. While earlier the Yatra was scheduled to commence from the twin tracks of Pahalgam in Anantnag and Baltal in Ganderbal on June 23, it has now been pushed to start from the Baltal track for two weeks later this month. The Yatri Niwas at Bhagwati Nagar in Jammu will be used as the base camp for the upcoming pilgrimage.

Previously, the Yatri Niwas was turned into administrative quarantine in March and later upgraded to a 500-bedded COVID care centre with all the required facilities to lower the pressure on the hospitals. Officials said the sprawling complex would be utilised as the base camp during the yatra period and later turned back into the COVID care centre. Moreover, in preparation for the Amarnath Yatra, Ganderbal's Superintendent of Police has requested 16 educational institutes in the district to be vacated, via a government order to accomodate the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) companies.

Yatri Niwas to be used as base camp in Jammu for upcoming Amarnath pilgrimage

Amarnath Yatra scaled down

Amid the current Coronavirus, the J&K government has curtailed the Amarnath yatra to 15 days instead of the regular 43 days yatra, in the last week of July. All pilgrims will be tested for COVID-19 as a precautionary measure and the Divisional Commissioner asked the DC of Kathua to make necessary arrangements for the sampling of the pilgrims and identify places for their temporary stay in the district, according to a press release. Last year, the Amarnath Yatra was cut short due to terror threat and all pilgrims were airlifted.

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