Jammu, July 2: The fifth batch of Amarnath yatris comprising of 5,791 people left Jammu in escorted convoys on Monday morning for the annual pilgrimage to the cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted rainfall over isolated places of Jammu and Kashmir over the next 24 hours. The first group is headed for the Pahalgam base camp while the other proceeded to Baltal.

The yatra resumed on Pahalgam and Baltal routes on Sunday morning after being suspended due to inclement weather. The Yatra remained suspended for three days before resuming on Sunday after the weather improved. On June 1, the fourth batch of 6,877 pilgrims left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu for the twin camps in Kashmir after the yatra from the winter capital of the state was allowed to resume following restoration of traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar Highway.

As a precautionary measure due to the threat of floods in the Valley, traffic on the highway was suspended on Sunday. As the water level in the Jhelum river started receding, the authorities decided to allow the pilgrims from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp to join the yatra.

In 2017, a total of 2.60 lakh pilgrims offered prayers at the shrine in 2017. This year, the yatra will be longer by 20 days against 40 days in 2017. The 60-day yatra began on June 28 and will conclude on August 26 coinciding with the 'Raksha Bandhan' festival. The two-month annual pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine of Amarnath is believed to see the highest footfall this year due to elaborate security arrangements.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 02, 2018 02:38 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).