Bangalore, June 23, 2013: Sirish Katti is one among the many whose loved ones had gone on a pilgrimage and are now stranded in Uttarakhand and have been starving for several days now.

Mr. Sirish Katti, an HP employee, says his parents, Srinivas Katti (61) and Vimala Katti (60), had gone on the Char Dham pilgrimage and have been stranded for the past nine days at Badrinath Bhangad Bhavan.

Mr. Sirish Katti’s parents are among the 120 others from Karnataka who went on the pilgrimage and reached Badrinath on June 14. They had planned to start their return journey on June 16 but could not because of cloud burst and floods.

He says he is worried because his parents have been starving since Tuesday, and it was only on Friday they got some breakfast from Ananth Math. “My father is a diabetic and two others from Karnataka who are on the trip with them have had heart surgeries. Even if rescue operations are on, the rescue personnel do not seem to have prioritised as to who should be rescued first,” said Mr. Sirish Katti.

According to him, pilgrims at Badrinath were directed to evacuate within the next 24 hours on Saturday. But help is yet to reach them and according to Mr. Sirish Katti, Army personnel who are engaged in the rescue operations at Badrinath are scaring the pilgrims, “My parents have been told that if they do not leave Badrinath in 24 hours, they would be stuck there for more than a month.”

Not having any other option but to make his own arrangements to ensure that his parents reach home safely, Mr. Sirish Katti says he would be leaving for Dehradun on Sunday so that he can bring his parents back.

Arunacharya K, a Sanskrit teacher, whose parents, Jayanth Katti (69) and Uma Katti (63), also said that no proper arrangements have been made by the local authorities to evacuate the pilgrims.

“The pilgrims have been asked to queue up at the helipad, but it would be impossible for senior citizens to stand all night to be airlifted,” he said.

Source: The Hindu, DT. June 23, 2013.