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33,000 Amarnath pilgrims stranded at Jammu

A fresh batch of 5,561 pilgrims left Jammu on Saturday for the Amarnath pilgrimage even as over 33,000 devotees were stranded following inclement weather.

The fresh batch comprising 701 women and 58 children left in 331 vehicles including buses, light vehicles and trucks from Jammu to Pahalgam, base camp of the shrine nestling in high Himalayas in south Kashmir early Saturday, a police spokesman told PTI.

However, pilgrims were stranded at different parts of Jammu region due to heavy rains and landslides forcing them to take shelter in their vehicles.

The number of pilgrims have swelled in Jammu as the incessant rains forced the authorities to suspend the pilgrimage for the last two days that led to a chaotic situation in some areas in the city.

"This was done in total disregard to the safety of the pilgrims, as the highway remained blocked for nine hours and was only cleared for one way traffic following removal of a major landslide at Ramban," leaders of Baba Amarnath Yatra Niyas Trust, a body monitoring the welfare of pilgrims, said referring to the latest move by the authorities to send a fresh batch to the cave shrine.

PTI

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