There was some respite in cold conditions in Kashmir as the mercury went up by several degrees at most places after four days of virtual free fall.
Heavy rains Monday morning rendered the 46-km Pahalgam-cave and 14-km Baltal-cave routes slippery and dangerous.
Bollywood film unit shooting for a Hindi movie at Chandanwari near Pahalgam on the foothills of the South Kashmir Himalayan range were stranded by sudden heavy snowfall in the area on Sunday afternoon.
The pilgrims have been asked not to proceed to the cave in view of threat of landslides posed by heavy rains, the officials said adding they have been asked to take shelter in the specially erected shelter-sheds on both the routes.
Mercury continued its free fall in Kashmir division as Leh in Ladakh region recorded the coldest night this winter with a minimum temperature of minus 16.3 degrees Celsius.
Almost 3,000 Border Security Force personnel have been airlifted to Kashmir from New Delhi to guard devotees embarking on the Amarnath yatra, that commences from July 1, and protecting the route.
Ten pilgrims died en route to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas since Monday night, taking the toll during this year's pilgrimage to 61, officials said.
Traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway was suspended due to lurking threat of floods in the Valley, leaving hundreds of commuters stranded, officials said.
Eleven people were killed and 48 injured when a bus in which they were travelling plunged into a stream in south Kashmir's Anantnag district on Saturday.
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The lowest temperature ever recorded in Srinagar was minus 14.4 degrees Celsius in 1893.
At least 15,000 pilgrims, who were stranded near the Amarnath holy cave in Jammu and Kashmir due to a flash flood triggered by a cloudburst, have been shifted to the lower base camp of Panjtarni, an Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) spokesperson said on Saturday.
Six more Amarnath pilgrims died en route to the holy cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas, taking the toll during this year's pilgrimage to 67, officials said.
Two more devotees died en route 3,880-mt high Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir, taking the death toll since the commencement of the annual pilgrimage to 24, police said on Tuesday.
In a swift action, the army said on Tuesday it had taken 'strict disciplinary action against soldiers who had misbehaved with tourists in the south Kashmir's health resort of Pahalgam on Monday.'
Large parts of north India reeled under numbing cold on Tuesday with the mercury remaining below freezing point at most places in Jammu and Kashmir, while dense fog in the early hours of the morning hit road and rail traffic movement.
The ongoing Amarnath yatra was suspended from Jammu on Saturday due to inclement weather and to control heavy rush of devotees thronging the 13,500 feet cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas.
The Meteorological Department has forecast rains or snow over five days from Monday.
A batch of 429 pilgrims left for the yatra from Jammu. The pilgrims included 32 women and 102 sadhus.
Till July 7, nearly 82,000 devotees had paid their obeisance at the shrine.
Srinagar, the summer capital of the state, recorded a low of -4.2C, slightly up from the previous night's -4.9C.
It is an age-old tradition to take the holy mace to different temples to perform religious rituals before finally taking it to the holy Amarnath cave on the day of Rakshabandan.
The ongoing pilgrimage to the cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas was on Tuesday suspended from Pahalgam and Baltal base camps as heavy rains lashed parts of the Valley, officials said in Srinagar.
For the fourth consecutive day, Monday, the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway remained closed for traffic in the wake of landslides at some places, even as higher reaches in Kashmir received fresh snowfall overnight.
The all-time low recorded in the month of December in Srinagar is minus 12.8 degrees Celsius on December 13, 1934.
The Amarnath yatra was suspended today due to inclement weather conditions in the south Kashmir Himalayas, official sources said in Jammu
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On December 7, 1990, Srinagar had recorded a low of minus 8.8 degrees Celsius.
The first batch comprising 1,160 Amarnath yatris was on Friday flagged off by the state tourism minister from Jammu base camp to the holy cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas.
Srinagar recorded a low of minus 3.2 degrees Celsius, an increase of two degrees from the previous night's minus 5.2 degrees Celsius, a spokesman for the MET department said in Srinagar.
Famous Dal Lake and other water bodies froze partially as Srinagar city, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, witnessed the coldest night of this winter with mercury plunging to minus 5.6 degrees Celsius.
Amid tight security arrangements, the annual Amarnath yatra commenced from Jammu as the first batch of 1,280 pilgrims left for the cave shrine in the South Kashmir Himalayas.
Another tragedy struck on the Amarnath pilgrims on Sunday when a bus on its way to Pahalgam fell into a deep gorge.
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The video showed the terrorists enjoying snowfall and brandishing AK 47 assault rifles while treading a snow-clad hillock after heavy snowfall on January 6.
Fresh snowfall disrupted normal life in Jammu and Kashmir, where an avalanche warning was issued in five districts, higher reaches and tribal areas of Himachal Pradesh and the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand on Monday.
'Based upon the circumstances, the Board decided with heavy heart that it is not advisable to hold and conduct this year's Shri Amarnathji Yatra and expressed its regret to announce the cancellation of Yatra 2020,' the SASB said in a statement.
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The bone-chilling cold returned as the night temperature plunged below the freezing point across Kashmir division after a brief respite owing to the rains in plains and snowfall in high altitude areas early this week.
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