More Saurashtra tourists stranded,few reported safe

The number of people from Saurashtra stranded in Uttarakhand rose to 85 even as relatives of the few reported safe heaved a sigh of relief Thursday. The emergency response centre of Rajkot district Thursday said besides 24 persons from the city reported to be caught in the devastation zone a day ago,21 others from various parts of the district were also reported stranded.

While four of the marooned people are reported to be from Vankaner town,two others were identified to be from Derdi Kumbhar village in Gondal taluka. Another 19 people from Amreli district and 21 from Jamnagar were confirmed to have been trapped while on their Char Dham pilgrimage. From Porbandar,30 persons who were reported to have been stranded in Kedarnath Wednesday were flown to Haridwar safely Thursday.

Odhavji Dharodia and his family from Vankaner,Hitesh Sachdeve of Rajkot city and Pravin Vala and 29 others with him from Porbandar were reported safe. However,Madhuben Thakkar,an Ahmedabad-based nurse with a group of pilgrims from Rajkot,was reported missing.

“Pravinbhai and his family members and relatives were flown to Haridwar late Wednesday. They are at an airbase near Haridwar and are being provided medical assistance,” said Keyur Joshi,Vala’s friend in Porbandar,adding the family had return tickets to Porbandar for June 24.

Meanwhile,Odhavji Dharodia and his family managed to survive on ration provided by a tour operator. “The storm started when we walked three km towards Gangotri. We were advised to return,” Dharodia said.