Amarnath Yatra 2021: Registration temporarily halted amid COVID-19 crisis

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New Delhi: The registration for the upcoming Amarnath Yatra has been temporarily suspended in wake of the dire COVID-19 crisis in the country. 

Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board through its Twitter handle made the announcement and said that the situation is being “constantly monitored”. “In view of evolving COVID19 situation, registration for Amarnath Yatra is being temporarily suspended. The situation is being constantly monitored and it would be reopened once the situation improves,” the Board tweeted on Thursday (April 22).

In view of evolving COVID19 situation, registration for Amarnath Yatra is being temporarily suspended. The situation is being constantly monitored and it would be reopened once the situation improves: Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board

— ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2021

The online registration process had begun from April 1 through 446 designated bank branches across the country — 316 branches of Punjab National Bank, 90 of Jammu and Kashmir Bank and 40 YES Bank branches. The annual 56-day yatra to the Himalayan cave shrine is scheduled to begin from the twin routes of Pahalgam and Baltal in Jammu and Kashmir on June 28 and will culminate on August 22.

The Amarnath yatra was suspended last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Tuesday, the Jammu and Kashmir administration had extended the night curfew to urban areas of all 20 districts in order to curb the transmission of the deadly infection. The curfew will remain in force from 10 pm to 6 am. Earlier, the night curfew was imposed on only eight districts of J&K. 

On Wednesday, the Union Territory recorded its sharpest single-day surge of 2,204 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the cumulative tally to 1,52,442, PTI quoted officials as saying. 

While the death toll climbed to 2,084 as 13 more people,10 from Jammu and three from Kashmir, lost their lives.