Bhubaneswar, Aug 4: At least four devotees from Odisha’s Keonjhar district are stranded in Uttarakhand’s Kedarnath Dham after a massive landslide followed by a cloudburst washed away a 20-25-metre section of the trek route.
The devotes have been identified as Kartik Khilar (44) of Saruali village, Maheshwar Pradhan (54) of Chandrashekharpur village under Telkoi police limits, Rushinath Mahant (28) of Kempasada village under Sadar police limits and Sadanada Sahu (35) of Jagmohanpur village.
Official sources reported that the state government has taken action to ensure the rescue and safe return of the four individuals. Following government instructions, the Keonjhar district administration has maintained continuous contact with the stranded devotees.
Keonjhar Collector Vishal Singh has contacted Rudra Prayag Collector, requesting him to take the necessary measures to ensure the safety of the four devotees.
Notably, the trek route to Kedarnath Dham suffered extensive damage on Wednesday night due to a cloudburst in Junglechatti near Lincholi stranding nearly 2000 pilgrims.
Pilgrims were stranded beyond Bhimbali on the Gaurikund-Kedarnath trek route after a 20-25 meter section was washed away by the swollen Mandakini River.
