MYSORE, June 27, 2013: Nine family members of Rajaram H M, a wholesale dealer, who were stranded in the flood-ravaged Uttarakhand for over a week, returned home safely on Wednesday night.

"We heaved a sigh of relief only when we reached New Delhi. It is a new beginning for all of us," said 51-year-old Rajaram. Recounting the harrowing experience, he said that their 22-day 'Kashi Yathre' commenced on June 1 and everything was well till June 15.

"We were on the last leg of our trip when we got stuck at Gaurikund after having darshan at Kedarnath the previous day. We were supposed to leave for Badrinath in the early hours of June 15, but our tour manager delayed it by a day. We rested the whole day, but after dusk, we saw something terrible from our hotel room. We witnessed landslides and heard the deafening sound of water gushing and initially thought it is common here as people did not react. But as the day passed we got to know something unpleasant had happened. However, we spent the day and then left to an upstream village - Gauri Gaon-where we had to spend one week in dismal conditions," he said.

About 26 persons, including 9 from their family , spent six days in a small and untidy room with no power and very little food, said the wholesale dealer.

Rajaram's wife Sumana Ram said they never thought they would return home safely. "I just can't believe that the floods ravaged the areas a day after we had darshan at Kedarnath after travelling nearly 14 km from Gaurikund," she added. I died every minute till I reached Delhi safely," Hithashri, 17, Rajaram's daughter, said.

Raghavendra, 31, said two days later when they came down to collect their baggage from the hotel, they witnessed buildings collapsing and signs of landslides were visible near Mandakini River.

Gauri temple was completely marooned and a small pathway to reach there was also washed away in the floods. His wife Shewtha said it was really a frightening experience that she will never forget.

The family members showered praises on the Army personnel for helping them reach a safe place from Gauri Gaon to Sonu Prayag (7 km away) to Seethapur (2 km) on foot and then to Rishikesh, Haridwar and then to Delhi in a government- sponsored jeep.

"While we were crossing a bridge near Sonu Prayag, a confluence of two rivers, the Army personnel who were helping devotees stranded in floods were wishing ".... Naya Jeevan ka Mubarak..." (A congratulatory wish of new life). We are alive because of them," Sumana, a homemaker, said.

Five of them took flight to Bangalore from Delhi while four others- Raghavendra and Shylaja (Mysore) and Sridhar Shetty and Geetha (Gao)-reached Mysore by train.

Source: The Times of India, DT. June 27, 2013.