About 1,000 pilgrims from Andhra Pradesh are reportedly stranded on the Gangotri and Yamunotri routes due to incessant rains and landslips since the last 48 hours.

With no respite from the heavy rains lashing the area, pilgrims are waiting for food and water.

According to information, most of the pilgrims hail from Nalgonda, East and West Godavari and Krishna districts.

It is understood that apart from established travel agencies, several small-time tour operators have also started operating pilgrimages to Gangotri and Yamunotri. As a result, the State government did not have the exact numbers.

Erukula Sashanka from Srinagar Colony in the city said that as many as 21 of her relatives including her parents – E. Chenna Kesava Rao and Roopa Devi, were stranded in Uttarkashi since Saturday night.

She told the mediapersons on Sunday night that the 21-member group had left Delhi by tourist buses operated by Southern Travel, New Delhi.

National Disaster Management Authority Vice-chairman M. Sashidhar Reddy said in New Delhi that at least 11 people were killed and 50 others missing as thousands of pilgrims on their Char Dham yatra remained stranded. Mr. Sashidhar Reddy said rescue operations were being carried out by the army, paramilitary forces and national disaster response force but the officials were finding it difficult to move heavy machinery to the rescue site.

Twelve teams of the NDRF have been deployed in addition to the army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police that have taken up rescue operations and remained in constant touch with the State government officials.

Union Tourism Minister K. Chiranjeevi spoke to the Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna urging him to take up rescue operation.

Relief Commissioner T. Radha told the press that he was trying to contact the District Magistrate of Uttarkashi in a bid to launch rescue operations but he could not be reached over the phone.

The Uttarakhand government has set up a helpline to pass on information about the pilgrims.

Its number is 01374226126. Nalgonda Collector N. Muktheswara Rao told the press that initial reports suggested that at least 150-200 pilgrims from Miryalaguda and other nearby areas were on a pilgrimage to Gangotri and Yamunotri.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy on Monday telephoned his Uttarakhand counterpart Vijay Bahaguna seeking assistance to shift the large number of stranded pilgrims from AP to safer places.

A senior official in the Chief Minister's office told the media that Mr. Kiran Kumar Reddy had discussed with Mr. Bahaguna the need to provide food and water to the pilgrims.

Relief camps

Mr. Bahuguna assured the Chief Minister that pilgrims from the State were safe and his government had initiated steps to set up relief camps. Road blockades were being cleared and efforts were being made to provide food, water and shelter to stranded people.

Chief Secretary P.K. Mohanty is in constant touch with senior officials of the Uttarakhand government including the Chief Secretary and Home Secretary. Uttarkashi District Collector Rajesh Kumar informed the State officials that twenty relief camps were being set up for about 5,000 people, including Telugus, who were stranded between Dunda Market-Nalupari on Gangotri Road.

Another 300 people were stranded between Nalupari and Darasuband Road where they were given food and shelter in a hotel.

Mr. Rajesh Kumar was said to be in constant touch with Nalgonda and East Godavari districts to which a major chunk of the pilgrims belonged.

“Our information shows that the pilgrims fall in two categories. There are those on their way back to Dehradun but have managed to camp in some nearby town. The rest are stuck on the roads in mountainous terrain,” a senior official said. With no respite in the rains and the sudden cloud burst on the intervening night of Sunday-Monday, rescue and relief operations have become a Herculean task.

“There is no way the pilgrims can be brought back till the roads are cleared,” the official said adding that aerial operations could not be taken up due to inclement weather conditions.