The Amarnath Yatra was suspended on Thursday due to heavy rains in the Jammu and Kashmir valley for the last 36 hours. The Meteorological Department has warned of more heavy rains in some parts of Jammu and Kashmir.
The decision to suspend the yatra has been taken after a landslide on the Baltal route in Ganderbal district killed a woman pilgrim and injured three others. Kashmir Divisional Commissioner Vijay Kumar Bidhuri said, “Sri Amarnath Yatra has been suspended from both Pahalgam and Baltal base camps on July 17, 2025. Due to continuous heavy rains for the last two days, it has become necessary to carry out repair work on both the routes.
“The pilgrims who were stranded at the Panjtarni base camp last night are being allowed to go to Baltal amid deployment of Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and rescue teams,” he said. Bidhuri said the BRO has deployed a large number of workers and machinery to complete the work so that the yatra can resume from both the Baltal and Pahalgam base camps.
“If the weather remains good, the yatra is expected to resume on Friday,” he said.
Another official said that the weather advisory has warned of heavy rain in Jammu and Kashmir, including the pilgrimage routes in Kashmir. This is the first time this year that the yatra from Jammu has been suspended.
The Amarnath Yatra began on July 3 and so far over 2.35 lakh pilgrims have visited the cave shrine situated at an altitude of 3,880 metres. A total of 1,01,553 pilgrims have left for the valley from the Jammu base camp since the first batch was flagged off by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on July 2.
So far over four lakh people have registered online for the Amarnath Yatra. Last year over 5.10 lakh pilgrims visited the Amarnath cave shrine. This year the Yatra will conclude on August 9.