(DC)
The Amarnath yatra has been cancelled this year in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. An official spokesman here the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) held an emergency video conference on Tuesday and decided to cancel the yatra “in the larger public interest”.
The annual pilgrimage to the cave-shrine tucked away in the Kashmiri Himalayas at a height of 3,888 m was scheduled to begin on June 23 coinciding with Skandshasthi, an auspicious occasion in the Hindu calendar, and conclude on August 3, the day of Shravan Purnima or Raksha Bandhan.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the authorities to shorten the duration of the yatra and restrict it to the shorter Baltal route via Srinagar. It was also announced that only 500 people would be allowed to visit the cave-shrine daily. In fact, SASB had in April announced the cancellation of the yatra citing several reasons, including paucity of time in view of the nationwide lockdown and COVID-19 exigencies.
