At least 179 pilgrims from Maharashtra -- among the 25,000 stranded after a massive landslide en route to the holy shrine of Badrinath -- are safe, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Saturday.
"All the pilgrims from the state are safe... We are making arrangements to bring them home by trains from tomorrow (Sunday)," Fadnavis told mediapersons here.
At least 179 pilgrims, including 102 from Aurangabad, 38 from Pune, 30 from Nashik, six from Jalgaon and the rest from other parts, are stranded at different points in Uttarakhand after a huge landslide blocked the highway to Badrinath shrine on Friday.
A majority of them had gone through private operators for the annual pilgrimage to Badrinath, situated at a height of nearly 3,100 metres on the bank of Alakananda river.
Earlier, reports said a major portion of a hill collapsed on the highway near Hathipahad, blocking the road and stranding hundreds of vehicles on both sides in the Garhwal Himalayan range.
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--IANS
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