More pilgrims travel to safer places

Saturday brought a sigh of relief for relatives of some stranded tourists in Uttarakhand, as few groups managed to move to safer locations. A group of tourists from Akurdi managed to reach Rishikesh while six members of Chowdhary Travels were airlifted from Badrinath to a safer destination in Chamoli district.
As the rain stopped in Uttarakhand, the rescue work has gained momentum where Army’s helicopters are carrying stranded tourists to a safer location. A group of 23 tourists among the last groups of Chowdhary Travels from Pune who are stuck in Badrinath were being airlifted to Gochar in Chamoli district.
Some of the members have been sent to Dehradun camp. Shivraj Chowdhary, the co-ordinator at Bhadrinath told dna, “We are in the final stage of getting the tourists out of here. With the special and free train service that is being provided between Haridwar and Mumbai, we are hoping to avail reservation for the tourists. Latest by tomorrow, all the stranded tourists would be brought out from here.”
Another group of 24 tourists from Akurdi area who were stranded in a remote village near Uttarkashi for last five days has walked more than 150 km to reach a safer location where they could get some aid.
Sanjay Lanke, one of the members of the group told dna, “ For last five days, we have been walking and crossing the mountains to reach a safer destination.” They also praised the local citizens for providing all the possible help to them. Lanke said, “ The local residents provided us shelter, food and water.”