A few pilgrims who headed for Uttarakasi from Vijayawada cut short their onward journey and returned to the city. Another team that continued its pilgrimage is now in Haridwar. “A team of 22 pilgrims hailing from Vijayawada left New Delhi on June 12 for Uttarakasi. On June 14, we visited Yamunotri. While we were returning, there was heavy rainfall, which continued for four days. Expecting trouble, we cut short our journey and reached Rishikesh with great difficulty on Wednesday evening. Now, we are at Haridwar,” K.V. Visweswara Rao told The Hindu over phone.
Their vehicle got stuck at Chinyalisaur village. Thy saw huge stones falling on to the road from atop mountains. “There is no accommodation, food, water, and medicines,” Mr. Rao recalled.
Another pilgrim G.V. Pradeep Kumar, who was part of a 15-member team, said they went on tour from Vanasthalipuram on June 4.
“The journey was smooth up to Badrinath. From there, we planned to visit Kedarnath and Gangotri. But due to heavy rains, I, along with three others, returned and the remaining 11 members continued their journey. Today (Wednesday morning), one of them informed me over phone that they got stuck at Gowri Kund, before Kedarnath. By evening, there was no phone contact too,” said Mr. Pradeep.
