“After a week’s turmoil, we feel relieved today on reaching Rishikesh,” said T. Seshagiri Rao, a native of Krishna district, who went to the Char Dham pilgrimage in Uttarakhand along with a group of 10 others from the district on July 14.
Recalling the dreadful experiences, Mr. Rao, who works as a CISF constable in New Delhi, told The Hindu over phone “We were tense. It was raining heavily and we lost all hopes. Thankfully, the authorities helped us in reaching safely to Rishikesh.”
Mr. Rao, his relatives and friends were taking shelter at Chinna Jeeyar Ashram near Joshimath on the way to Badrinath. Due to inclement weather, the group had to cancel their rest of the tour midway and return to Rishikesh on Monday evening. They would reach New Delhi Tuesday morning and later return to their respective places.
Another group of 10 pilgrims from Hyderabad reached Haridwar safely on Monday morning and would leave from New Delhi to Hyderabad in the evening. “Authorities have helped us but more coordination with Uttarakhand authorities would have made things more convenient. We had to trek, change different vehicles to reach Haridwar and it was tough, especially for elders and children,” said S. Haribabu, a pilgrim from Kukatpally Housing Board.
The Andhra Pradesh Bhavan authorities claimed that 32 pilgrims from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were shifted to Rishikesh and Haridwar from Joshimath and other places in the last two days. “All pilgrims are safe. We have arranged a medical camp and if need be, return train tickets to Hyderabad will also be arranged,” said P. Ravi Shanker, Assistant Commissioner of Andhra Pradesh Bhavan.
Disaster Management, Special Commissioner K. Hymavathi said all the Telugu pilgrims from both the States were shifted safely to Rishikesh and from there they would be travelling to New Delhi. “We have checked with the authorities in Uttarakhand, there are no reports of any Telugu pilgrims stranded elsewhere on the trip,” she said.
