The yatra to the Holy cave shrine of Amarnath resumed on Saturday morning from north Kashmir's Baltel route after remaining suspended on Friday.
The annual pilgrimage to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath began on Saturday with over 7,000 pilgrims trekking the 17-km northern Baltel route.
Police said 5 critically injured persons have been referred to Srinagar for treatment.
Tension gripped the north Kashmir Baltel base camp of the annual Amarnath yatra following clashes between security forces and locals on Thursday evening.
Anantnag, Kulgam and Pulwama are already under curfew following the death of three youths on Monday in clashes between the Central Reserve Police Force and stone-pelters. Anantnag and Pahalgam towns fall on the Jammu-Pahalgam pilgrimage route. But those taking the North Kashmir Baltal route to reach the cave shrine have to pass through Bijbehara, Awantipore and Pampore towns in the south.
More than 11000 pilgrims left from the two base camps for the yatra. Officials said that over 6000 pilgrims left for the cave shrine from north Kashmir Baltel base camp while 5000 left from the south Kashmir Nunwan base camp early Thursday morning.
The annual pilgrimage to the Himalayan cave shrine of Amarnath was flagged off from winter capital Jammu on Monday morning.The yatra is being initially allowed via the north Kashmir Baltel route as the traditional south Kashmir route remains snow bound.
Over five thousand pilgrims who left for the holy cave of Amarnath on Tuesday morning from north Kashmir's Baltel route had to abort the arduous uphill trek as the weather turned worse.
The state government has alerted the Army, air force and other agencies to meet any eventuality in light of the inclement weather along the twin mountain treks, north Kashmir Baltel and south Kashmir Pahalgam to the Himalayan cave shrine of Amarnath.
The annual pilgrimage to the Himalayan cave shrine of Amarnath took off on Sunday as the first batch of pilgrims set off from winter capital Jammu in the morning.
The heavy rush of unregistered pilgrims pouring in thousands into the Valley daily is posing a serious challenge to the authorities who are facing overcrowding at the base camps, traffic jams and throwing haywire the logistics put in place for the annual Amarnath yatra.
"The helicopter with four passengers and the captain crashed 500 meters short of the helipad near the cave shrine on Thursday morning. A woman pilgrim on the ground was killed on the spot while five occupants of the helicopter were wounded," said a senior police officer.
The two-month-long annual Amarnath Yatra to the Himalayan Hindu cave shrine has started with thousands of pilgrims proceeding towards the shrine from north and south Kashmir routes.
The annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath shrine will begin on Monday albeit only from the Baltel route as the traditional south route via Pahalgam is still snow-bound.
The two-month long annual Hindu pilgrimage to the Himalayan Cave Shrine of Amarnath, which was officially scheduled to begin on Saturday was postponed following incessant rains all along the north and south of Kashmir.
The pilgrimage to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath via north Kashmir Baltel route was halted on Thursday evening after flash floods washed away a major portion of a bridge in Ganderbal district.
The first batch of over 12,000 yatris (pilgrims) left for the cave shrine located at 14,500 feet above the sea level from the two base camps.
Curfew was imposed in the Srinagar and other parts of the Kashmir Valley a day after four people were killed and 40 others wounded in security force firing at Gool in Ramban district of Jammu region.
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