Shooting stones kill pilgrim

SRINAGAR: One pilgrim was killed and seven others were injured, two of them critically, hit by shooting stones near the Amarnath cave in the early hours of Tuesday.

Shri Amarnath Shrine Board spokesman Madan Mantoo said that as huge stones rolled down in the vicinity of the cave, Dividi Bradi (40) from Silchar, Assam, was seriously injured and she died later. The injured were admitted to the Srinagar hospital.

Incessant rain had lashed the area for many days. According to experts, the incident had much to do with the environmental degradation in the area in the last few years. They blamed it on excessive use of helicopters and the presence of a large number of security forces as also extension of the yatra duration by two months.

Last year, the State Pollution Control Board said the annual pilgrimage was causing damage to the environment and suggested remedial measures. This year, another cause for concern was the melting of the lingam — a naturally formed stalagmite. Though its height fluctuated between 5 and 12 feet, the lingam had never disappeared entirely as it happened now.

According to officials, the total melting was due to the heat generated by the presence of the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims. “One of the main reasons for its melting is conduction of body heat of the huge crowds,” said Shakeel Ahmed, head of the Geology and Geophysics Department at the University of Kashmir.

He also blamed it on helicopters which dropped pilgrims near the mountain cave and generators powering light bulbs.

“There will be some disappointment among the pilgrims as the main lingam has completely melted,” said a top official of the shrine board.

Over 20,000 devotees had darshan at the holy cave. On Tuesday, 2,769 pilgrims were headed for the cave via the Baltal route and 4,466 via Pahalgam, Mr. Mantoo said.