Rajahmundry, 17th June, 2013: Of the 70 people, who went to “Char Dham Yatra” from Rajahmundry and surrounding areas, only very few returned on Saturday and rest of them were stranded in Uttarakhand due to heavy rain and landslips.

The pilgrims from Rajahmundry who, had gone to take part in Saraswati Pushkarams, were stranded in Uttara Kasi district as landslides blocked the road.

Mylavarapu Naresh of Rajahmundry, said as he had urgent work he had returned from Uttara Kashi on Saturday. He said he had contacted his parents at 8 pm on Sunday and they were held up in a bus along with 17 of his relatives. He further said most of the stranded persons were aged people. They were badly in need of water, food and medicines, he said.

Kurmala Radha, whose relatives were also stranded, urged the government to make arrangements for food and water immediately.

Hundreds of people from other areas were also stranded without food and water. They were looking for help from the government. Situation has been grim as there are no villages near the place where the pilgrims were stranded.

More than 70 people boarded Swarna Jayanti Express on June 2 and gathered at New Delhi. They boarded four private buses from New Delhi to take part in Saraswati Pushkarams on June 12. They went to Badrinath and took part in Saraswathi pushkarams and they reached Gangotri later. When they are retuning from Gangotri, they were stranded due to heavy rain and landslides.

Source: The Hindu, 17th June, 2013