A dozen people, including some women who were part of a 25-member group on the ‘Char Dham’ pilgrimage from here, were reportedly washed away in the swirling waters of a swollen Mandakini river near Kedarnath as they were struggling to make their way to Rishikesh last Monday morning.

This startling news was received over telephone from a member of the group led by a private tour operator Ravikumar, who lost his mother in Uttarakhand. Shobha, sister of a journalist here, was part of the group that reached Kedarnath on Sunday evening.

As soon as they arrived and took shelter in a building on the banks of the river, a heavy downpour started, lasting for about 12 hours till Monday morning. Fed by the rains, the river swelled and the force of the water began sweeping everything in its way. The strength of the 25-member group was reduced to 13 within a few hours, it is said.

Fearsome scene

“Shobha and her husband Pandurangam were outside the building watching the fearsome scene and as the water reached them, Pandurangam hung on to a pole, as his wife held him. Their struggle to hang on for dear life ended with Pandurangam’s wife Shobha being snatched away from him by the water, as he watched helplessly,” said Sridhar, a family friend, who works in Delhi. This was the revelation of some among the 13 members who reached Rishikesh on Friday morning, after being airlifted from Kedarnath. They are expected to arrive at New Delhi on Saturday morning.

Special train

Meanwhile, another batch of pilgrims, boarded a special train from New Delhi on Friday evening and will reach here on Sunday morning. The special that left Nizamuddin Station at 9.30 p.m., has 19 coaches. Also, extra bogies were attached to the Duronto Express that left New Delhi at 4 p.m. on Friday and the Dakshin Express at 11 p.m. This apart, the SCR despatched a special rake of 15 coaches as the Indian Railways’ endeavour to requisition coaches from all the Railways to help handle the rush of stranded pilgrims back to their respective homes.

CM’s initiative

A senior SCR official here said consequent to the initiative taken by Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and Union Minister of State for Railways, Kotla Jayasuryaprakash Reddy, hundreds of pilgrims hailing from AP were given food and medical aid since Thursday afternoon.

Source : The Hindu