Kinner-Kailash Yatra to remain suspended until further notice

The Kinner-Kailash Yatra will stay suspended for the rest of this year, until further notice, due to snow-bound trek and incessant rough weather. The Kinnaur district administration has also issued an order that stated no one will be allowed to take the yatra without permission, following the death of two people, who took part in the trek illegally.

Kinner-Kailash is at around 21000 ft height, leading to a 79 ft vertical rock shivlingam on top of the mountain. Since the region has received heavy snowfall, trekking without safety measures and gear would pose a risk to trekkers. While pilgrims have to take prior information from district administration to go trekking on this route, two trekkers from a group of five recently lost their lives as they headed towards Kinner-Kailash without informing the authority.
Reportedly, Kinner-Kailash Yatra 2019 will start again only after taking into consideration all weather conditions and reports; nobody will also be allowed to trek before the official date is declared.
Referring to this, an official said that to tackle such incidents, tour operators that organise treks in the district should be registered with the tourism department and submit the list of trekkers at the nearest police station before commencing the trek. Later, after completing the trek, they should again submit the list of trekkers at the police station; this will avoid any unprecedented accidents.
Last year, due to heavy rainfall, the district administration suspended the pilgrimage as 100 people were left stranded near the cave, who had to be later rescued and brought to a safe place.