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JAMMU, KASHMIR, March 14, 2007: Pilgrimage to the Vaishno Devi shrine was stopped on Tuesday with weather conditions turning grim after the season’s first heavy snowfall in Trikuta hills of Jammu and Kashmir. Authorities have also begun evacuating over 5,000 stranded pilgrims at different places en route to the holy cave shrine from Katra in view of severe cold conditions in the area chief of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board executive officer Puneet Kumar said. He said the pilgrimage has been stopped in view of the heavy snowfall and uninterrupted rainfall en route to shrine. Three-feet snowfall was recorded for the first time in this season at Bhawan, abode of the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine, while over six-feet snow was recorded at Bhairo Ghati and adjoining areas in Trikuta hills since last night, Kumar said. As a result of snowfall, uninterrupted rain and chilly winds, the temperature further dipped to zero degrees, he said, and over 5,000 pilgrims, stranded at Bhawan and Adhkuwari, have been and are being provided food, tea and blankets. “In view of the situation becoming worse, we have decided to evacuate these 5,000 stranded pilgrims to Katra,” he said. A special team of five doctors are providing medical aid facilities to the ailing pilgrims at Katra. At Bhawan and Adhkuwari, where pilgrims are stranded, free medical care is being provided to them. Kumar asked devotees across the country to suspend their pilgrimage for 24 hours in view of the weather conditions prevailing in the state.

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