J&K: Vaishno Devi yatra on new routes suspended after forest fire

The battery car service between Adhkuwari-Shrine area via Himkoti Marg, too, remained suspended during the day,

Garg said the shrine officials are supervising fire fighting operations. A formal decision on reopening these routes will be taken Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, people in Jammu and Kashmir’s border Poonch district on Wednesday heaved a sigh of relief as overnight rains extinguished the massive fire that had been raging in the forests of Mankote area of Mendhar, triggering nearly half-a-dozen mine blasts since last Monday.

The fire, which started from the Pakistan-occupied areas of Jammu and Kashmir across the Line of Control, had neared residential areas at Banoi, triggering panic on Tuesday. Soldiers and police led the fire-fighting operations, sources said. The fire re-erupted in the Dharamsal forests in the morning and was brought under control by army troops and forest staff, said Army spokesperson Lt Col Devender Anand.

In Rajouri district’s Sunderbani area, another fire had broken out in the forests along the LoC from Kali Dhar area to Kalal. Efforts were in progress to control the fire, sources said.