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Over 2.5 lakh pilgrims visited Amarnath by mid-July, but 95% saw no ice lingam.
Ice lingam had melted over 50% before the yatra began on July 3, 2025.
Experts demand Amarnath Shrine Board follow environmental laws and conduct impact assessments.
Conversion of trekking paths into roads, growing motor traffic and plastic waste threaten fragile Himalayan ecology.
Calls grow for limiting pilgrim numbers, banning plastic, and restoring natural routes.
The naturally formed ice lingam at the Amarnath shrine in Kashmir, revered by devotees as a manifestation of Lord Shiva, has nearly melted just days after this year’s yatra began on July 3, 2025. For thousands of pilgrims this year, the holy cave was devoid of its iconic ice formation — an increasingly common occurrence that has experts sounding the alarm on ecological degradation in the fragile Himalayas.
The sacred Amarnath cave is situated at an altitude of approximately 3,880 metres in the Himalayan mountains of South Kashmir’s Anantnag district. The shrine is renowned for its naturally formed ice stalagmite, which is venerated as a symbol of Lord Shiva (Lingam) in Hindu mythology.
Over the past four to five years, the Lingam has tended to melt by mid-July— a phenomenon that was rarely seen 20 to 30 years ago. This year, the situation was even more concerning, as the Lingam had already begun to melt around the very day the Yatra commenced.
Veteran Srinagar-based television journalist Ashraf Wani, who has covered the Amarnath pilgrimage for nearly 30 years, calls this year’s situation the most disheartening in recent memory. “The lingam had started melting by the time the yatra officially began. Ten years ago, the area was still snow-covered in early July. Now it's barren, dusty and grim,” he told Down to Earth.
Wani compared footage from 2015 and 2025 on social media, showing a stark contrast — once snow-laden trails now dry and degraded. “In 1998, the ice lingam stood 12 to 13 feet tall (close to 4 metres). There was snow along nearly one kilometre of the track leading to the holy cave. There were no langars and no large tented accommodation in the vicinity of the cave. The number of pilgrims was lower and plastic waste was scarcely visible. But things changed after the Shrine Board took over in 2000-2001,” he said, pointing out increased yatra days and crowds for the deterioration.
According to official figures, over 13,000 pilgrims visited the shrine on July 17 alone. The total number of pilgrims who have had darshan at the Amarnath holy cave shrine has surpassed 331,000 in the first 20 days, stated a DD News report.
However, most of these devotees did not witness the ice lingam, which has been melting earlier each year for the past five years, now disappearing by mid-July or earlier.
Climate expert and former scientist associated with JK Pollution Control Board Mutahara Deva criticised the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) for not adhering to basic environmental norms.
The Shrine Board is not bound by any environmental legislation. There’s no Environmental Management Plan, no Environmental Impact Assessment. This is in open violation of the Environment Protection Act (1986), Water Act (1974), Air Act (1981) and Solid Waste Rules (2016)
Climate expert and former scientist associated with JK Pollution Control Board Mutahara Deva
Deva noted that trekking paths have been widened into roads in the last 5-10 years, bringing in vehicular dust and risking flash floods during monsoons. “This year, the lingam had already melted more than 50 per cent before July 3. The government must act urgently to protect the glaciers and shrine ecosystem.”
The holy Amarnath cave, perched at 3,880 metres in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, is accessible via two routes — from Baltal in Ganderbal district and Pahalgam in Anantnag. Environmentalists say both routes, once narrow trails, are now as wide as 12 feet — frequently used by jeeps and even trucks.
GA Bhat, former head of the Environmental Science Department at the University of Kashmir, recalled submitting waste management proposals to the SASB in 2005 — none of which were meaningfully implemented.
“Pilgrims need orientation, like those visiting wildlife parks. The number of langars must be drastically reduced, dry food should be served and LPG and gensets should be phased out. We need a serious Information, Education and Communication programme, not just slogans. Plastic must be banned and new roads disallowed,” Bhat said.
Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests OP Sharma, who also served as Director of the J&K Ecology and Environment Department, highlighted the biodiversity loss along the yatra route.
Rare Himalayan herbs like Pleurospermum, Wintergreen and Jogipadshah are vanishing. The mass uprooting of creeping juniper (Vethur in Kashmiri) for firewood is causing soil erosion and mudslides. The number of pilgrims must align with the region’s carrying capacity
Former PCCF OP Sharma
Sharma called for an immediate ban on non-biodegradable items, including bottled water and plastic-packaged food and urgent ex-situ conservation of endangered flora.
From heavy troop deployments and helicopter activity to unregulated tourism and plastic pollution, the cumulative impact of the Amarnath Yatra is no longer deniable. Environmentalists, journalists and former government scientists have urged the SASB and the government to regulate the number of pilgrims, reduce the duration of the yatra and bring pilgrimage practices in line with climate-conscious, ecologically sound protocols.