JAMMU: Pilgrimages to the cave shrines of Shri Amarnath, Mata Vaishnodevi, Shiv Khori, and Sarthal Devi in Jammu & Kashmir remained suspended for the third consecutive day on Tuesday amid heavy rainfall and hostile weather conditions. Schools have been closed till July 22, officials said.Pilgrims have been advised to stay at the base camps and lodging centres in view of the inclement weather, they said.Meanwhile, heavy rains lashed parts of Udhampur district on Tuesday, triggering mudslides at multiple locations along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway (NH-44), forcing the authorities to divert traffic as a precaution.In Rajouri, the administration on Tuesday issued flood advisory for vulnerable areas and urged precautionary evacuation.Police in Poonch, in coordination with the NDRF, continued search and rescue operations for the third consecutive day in the rain-affected areas of Surankote, the worst affected area in Jammu region due to downpour.Meanwhile, Leader of opposition (LoP) in J&K legislative assembly, Sunil Sharma, Tuesday asked CM Omar Abdullah to suspend political activities and focus on relief and rehabilitation for the people hit by natural calamities in Poonch, Rajouri and other areas of the union territory.“We urge the govt to stand with the people in their hour of crisis and provide them with required relief,” Sharma said at a presser at BJP office in Jammu, in an apparent reference to National Conference’s scheduled protest in Delhi on July 20 to press its demand for the restoration of statehood for Jammu & Kashmir.
