Hundreds of Vaishno Devi pilgrims from various parts of the country are stranded in Jammu due to the ongoing countrywide lockdown.
With money running out and nowhere to go, they have assembled in a temple complex in Jammu.
Shanti Devi from Bihar is among those pilgrims stranded.
She couldn”t return to Bihar and is now worried about her ageing mother and a young child. “I am extremely worried about my family back home, I appeal to the government to do something for the stranded pilgrims,” she said.
The Jammu administration is providing them with food through local volunteers.
“The administration is taking care of them and ensuring that they don”t face any problems,” Divisional Commissioner Jammu Sanjeev Verma said.
In a sudden move, the Jammu and Kashmir government on March 18 suspended Vaishno Devi Yatra in the wake of coronavirus threat.
Vaishno Devi is one of the most important shrines in the country. Pilgrims arrive by thousands to Jammu and Katra daily.
In the past pilgrimage has been temporarily suspended many times due to bad weather but this is for the first time that it has been halted for days.