From Uttarkashi,tourists on way home

On Wednesday,Pune student Prerna Patil,who was stranded in Uttarkashi

On Wednesday,Pune student Prerna Patil,who was stranded in Uttarkashi,walked more than 6 km to reach the helipad in Uttarkashi with a hope that she might get airlifted. However,the helicopters were sent to areas which were severely-affected. So,she had to walk back 6 km again, said Prernas mother Mita Patil.

On Thursday,as soon as the weather cleared a bit,Rajender Jamnal,the owner of the hotel where Prerna was staying,accompanied her till Chinyalisaur,a small village 35 km from Uttarkashi. Both of them waited for a vehicle for over four hours after which she managed to get a shared taxi to Rishikesh. My husband will pick her up from there, she added,anxiously awaiting her daughters return home.

Prerna,18,had gone to Uttarkashi for a 15-day adventure course at Nehru Institute of Mountaineering. The adventure course finished on June 15 and she was scheduled to travel by road to Dehradun and then to Delhi. However,due to heavy rain and roadblocks,she had to stay back at Uttarkashi.

Also on his way back from Uttarkashi is Chinchwad-based Anand Kulkarni,who was on a char-dhaam yatra with a group of 13 people. Talking to Newsline on phone,he said,We left Uttarkashi around 9.30 am and if the weather continues to be clear,we will reach Haridwar late in the evening, said Kulkarni,who works as a regional sales manager in a pharmaceutical industry. He added that the group planned to halt at Haridwar for a day before travelling to Delhi. Eight of us will take a flight to Pune on June 23 while the rest will travel by train, he added.

Jamnal,also a friend of Prernas father,said all tourists checked out from their hotels as soon as it stopped raining and the sky cleared.

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