The Amaranth Yatra will remain suspended on Thursday because of bad weather.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh with J-K Governor NN Vohra in Srinagar on 4 July, 2018. (Photo: SNS)
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh could not visit the Amarnath cave shrine on Thursday due to bad weather.
The minister, who reached Srinagar on Wednesday on a two-day visit of the state, would take a review of various developmental projects, security and law and order on Thursday, official sources said.
Singh will return to New Delhi later in the day.
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Singh is accompanied by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, Joint Secretary, Jammu and Kashmir, Gyanesh Kumar and a few other officers of the MHA.
He met Governor NN Vohra on Wednesday at the Raj Bhavan.
This is Singh’s first visit to the state after Governor’s Rule was imposed here on June 20, following the BJP’s withdrawal of support to the Mehbooba Mufti government.
READ | Amarnath Yatra to remain suspended today due to bad weather
On Wednesday, Singh and Vohra discussed various issues related to security management, implementation of development programmes and positive engagement of the youth in the state.
He was also briefed about the ongoing Amarnath Yatra.
Rajnath was scheduled visit the Amarnath shrine on Thursday where he was to obeisance and also take stock of the security situation.
The Amaranth Yatra will remain suspended on Thursday because of bad weather.
Police said both the pilgrimage routes, Baltal and Pahalgam, would remain closed. No convoy of pilgrims proceeded to Kashmir from Jammu in the morning.
The authorities are taking precautions as five pilgrims died due to a landslide on the Baltal route on Tuesday.
READ | Landslide on Amarnath Yatra route kills 5 pilgrims; 4 injured
A batch of 3,708 pilgrims proceeded to Kashmir on Wednesday morning from Jammu but they were stranded at Udhampur because of landslides and heavy rain.
As many as 54,833 pilgrims have performed darshan of the ice-lingam so far at the holy cave shrine situated at a height of about 12,786 ft. Bad weather has forced authorities to suspend the pilgrimage many times, as a result of which several pilgrims are stranded at Pahalgam and Baltal.
(With agency inputs)
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