Shortly after releasing a press note about the cancellation of Amarnath Yatra, the state government has withdrawn the same. Jammu & Kashmir’s Directorate of Information in a statement today said the pilgrimage has been scrapped owing to Covid-19 pandemic but shortly after retracted the same.
The 42-day-long Hindu pilgrimage in the south Kashmir Himalayas is slated to being from June 23 and will continue till August 3.
As per reports, J&K Lieutenant Governor (L-G) and Chairman of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) Girish Chandra Murmu presided over the 38th Board meeting in Jammu today where he made observations about the yatra in view of the pandemic.
The five-day trek originates at Pahalgam till the Amarnath cave shrine at an altitude of 12,756 feet. The 42-day-long yatra in the south Kashmir Himalayas this year will be a bit longer by two days, compared to the 40-day one in 2019. The yatra was 60 days-long two years ago.
The yatra was curtailed last year when the erstwhile state’s administration in an advisory on August 2 urged all tourists and pilgrims to leave Kashmir as quickly as possible citing an imminent security threat.
However, just days after the issue of the advisory, the central government on August 5 abrogated Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, stripping Jammu and Kashmir of its special status, and bifurcated it into Union Territories.