SRINIGAR, INDIA, June 23, 2012 (pardaphash.com): HPI Note: This year our Delhi correspondent, Rajiv Malik, accompanied by photographer Sudharak Olwe, are participating in the Amarnath Yatra beginning June 29 from the base camp at Pahalgam for a feature story in Hinduism Today magazine–we are, therefore, watching the weather quite closely.
Officials informed on Saturday that Hindu pilgrims reaching north and south Kashmir transit camps for the annual Amarnath Yatra are disallowed to proceed further before June 25, the official date when the pilgrimage to the cave shrine begins. “The schedule cannot be changed for the pilgrims who have already reached the Yatra transit camps,” Navin Kumar Chowdhary, chief executive officer of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) which manages the affairs of the Yatra told reporters. “The Yatra begins June 25 and the pilgrims must follow the schedule for their own safety,” he added.
Inclement weather on the Yatra route is posing a major challenge for the SASB which is clearing the tracks to the cave shrine. Reports from south Kashmir’s Sheshnag, Pissu Top and Panchtarni halts said a thick blanket of snow still covered these places. Police Saturday stopped several vehicles carrying pilgrims at the north Kashmir’s Manigam and south Kashmir’s Mir Bazar transit camps. “We have been issued orders to prohibit pilgrims from moving towards the shrine till Monday”, a police official said. Jammu and Kashmir Governor N.N. Vohra, who is also the chairman of the SASB, visited north Kashmir’s Baltal base camp early Saturday to take a stock of the arrangements for the smooth conduct of the Amarnath Yatra, an official said.