A special plane brought 148 pilgrims of Madhya Pradesh, rescued in Uttarakhand, to Bhopal on Tuesday. At the airport, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan received the pilgrims and enquired about their health. The State Government has arranged special aircrafts to bring state’s pilgrims from Haridwar. As many as 338 pilgrims were brought by special planes yesterday. With this, number of pilgrims brought by special planes has gone up to 486.
Chouhan received the pilgrims at the airport by garlanding them. The pilgrims include children, senior citizens, women and youths. The pilgrims expressed gratitude to the Chief Minister saying that they could return home safely only due to the State Government’s efforts. They will be able to reunite with their families now.
They are so overwhelmed by emotions that they failed to hold back tears. An elderly pilgrim was brought on wheelchair. The Chief Minister boosted morale of all pilgrims. Arrangements of medical check-up and meals have been made for pilgrims at the airport. After feeding pilgrims, they were sent safely to their respective destinations by buses.
The Chief Minister informed that so far about 8,000 pilgrims of Madhya Pradesh have returned home safely. State Government’s helicopter has reached Badrinath. From Badrinath, pilgrims will be taken to Joshi Muth and then to Haridwar by road.
Of the pilgrims brought today by special plane, 21 are of Bhopal district, 43 of Ratlam, 23 of Ashok Nagar, 7 of Indore, 5 of Khargone, 2 of Dhar, 3 of Sidhi, 2 of Rewa, 2 of Rajgarh, 4 of Guna, 3 of Jabalpur, 12 of Shajapur, 1 of Vidisha, 4 of Sehore, 11 of Raisen and 5 pilgrims belong to Tikamgarh district. State Mineral Development Corporation Chairman Rameshwar Sharma, Alok Sharma, Divisional Commissioner SB Singh, IG Shri Upendar Jain and relatives of pilgrims were also present at the airport.