By IANS
Srinagar : Snowfall and incessant rains halted the Amarnath Yatra yet again Sunday as over 13,000 pilgrims camped at various places on the twin routes to the Himalayan cave shrine revered by Hindus.
"It has been snowing in the region since early morning as both the northern Baltal and the southern Pahalgam routes are lashed by incessant rains. We have halted the yatra (march) from both routes," Madan Mantoo, spokesperson of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, told IANS here.
Mantoo said over 13,000 pilgrims are camping at several places along the two routes.
"While 3,940 pilgrims are camped at the Baltal base camp, 4,178 are at the southern Nunwan base camp, 2,320 at Sheshnag, 1,455 at Panchtarni and 1,350 at the holy cave," he said.
As many as 75,029 devotees have undertaken the pilgrimage so far and over 6,500 people prayed at the shrine Saturday alone.
Mantoo added that Sunita, a pilgrim from Jalandhar in Punjab, had died due to heart failure at Zojibal on the northern route Saturday.
Strong winds and rain had halted the yatra on July 2 also.