Villupuram, June 24, 2013: Seven of the 37-member group of pilgrims who got stranded by the flash floods in Uttarkhand returned to Villupuram in the early hours on Sunday.

The group included Arunachalam (65), Suseela (56), Chandra Gupta (49), Latha (41), B.Madanraj (15), Gopinath and Raman. The group led by L.R.Babu left for the pilgrimage on June 11. While Babu was washed away in the floods, Vijaya is said to have been died of starvation.

Because of the inclement weather and unprecedented floods the pilgrims were put to great hardships.

A section of the pilgrims opted to take a ride on ponies, on the hilly terrain, while others chose to be carried by improvised palanquins or dollies.

The fate of the other members of the pilgrimage is not known.

Source: The Hindu, DT. June 24, 2013.