Forty-six out of the 320 Odisha pilgrims stranded between Joshimath and Govindghat along the Rishikesh-Badrinath National Highway for the last three days following heavy rains and landslide at Vishnuprayag in Uttarakhand have been brought back to safety, official sources said. They were airlifted from the place by a helicopter and brought back to Joshimath, said State Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) GVV Sarma here on Thursday.
A release from the SRC office also stated that nearly 54 persons of Bhadrak district who were stranded are safely placed at an ITBP camp during the last two days and provided food, medical care and other required services. According to reports, nearly 3,000 pilgrims who were on their way to Badrinath have been stranded.
Talking to a local television channel on Thursday, two pilgrims of Bhadrak district, Narendra Kumar Samal and Prakash Nayak, said road communication between Joshimath and Govindghat was completely disrupted after a landslide at Vishnuprayag at about 11 am on Tuesday. “We had informed the Bhadrak, Balangir, Bargarh and Mayurbhanj district Collectors to take necessary steps to rescue us from the area at the earliest. There is heavy rain and intense cold out here which has made the plight of the pilgrims miserable,” said the two pilgrims.
“The Dehradun Collector also asked us to wait at the helipad from where we would be taken to Joshimath where the district administration has made arrangements for food for the pilgrims. We also received a call from the office of the Resident Commissioner in New Delhi asking us to wait at Joshimath from where we would be flown to New Delhi,” Prakash Nayak added. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday announced assistance of Rs 5 crore for the Nepal earthquake victims. The State Government has sent three senior officials of the Odisha State Disaster Mitigation Authority (OSDMA) to Nepal to help in the relief and restoration works.