NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday hailed the National Defence Response Force for providing a safe Amarnath Yatra to every pilgrim.
Taking to Twitter Amit Shah tweeted, “The NDRF and the SDRF have always stood tall in service to the nation and humanity despite all odds. Their role has been crucial in fulfilling our goal of providing a safer Amarnath Yatra to every pilgrim.”
“Sharing a photograph of an SDRF Jawan carrying a lady yatri on his back for 3 km through the unforgiving terrain of the Himalayas on her way back from the holy shrine. I applaud them for being the beacon of safety for the citizens,” Shah tweeted.
Earlier today, the annual Amarnath Yatra resumed on the Pahalgam route following an improvement in weather conditions, officials said.
The Yatra on the other route, Baltal, is yet to resume.
Earlier, the Yatra was halted since Friday due to bad weather conditions in Jammu and Kashmir.
Authorities on Sunday stopped a batch of devotees at the Jammu Base camp due to the closure of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway.
Following the suspension of the Yatra, 6,000 Amarnath Yatra pilgrims were stranded at Ramban, officials said.
At least 80 people from Karnataka were trapped in the Panchtarni, six km away from the Amarnath cave following the adverse weather conditions, said the Karnataka government on Saturday.
Deputy Commissioner Ramban, Mussarat Islam told ANI that the administration is taking all steps to ensure that the pilgrims do not face any problems.
The official further informed that Jammu Srinagar National Highway (NH44) remains closed for vehicular traffic at Ramban due to a landslide.
At least 67,566 pilgrims visited the Amarnath cave shrine since the beginning of the Yatra on July 1.
About 18,354 pilgrims on July 5 left for the Amarnath cave shrine both from the Baltal base camp and Nunwan base camp performed the darshan.
“These include 12483 males, 5146 females, 457 children, 266 sadhus, and 2 sadhvis,” an official statement said earlier this week.
The total number of yatris who performed Darshan since the beginning is 67566. More yatris will visit the shrine in the coming days,” it added.
The 62-day-long Shri Amarnath Yatra will culminate on August 31, 2023. (ANI)