Many pilgrims either fell from hillocks or crushed under falling rocks

A survivor's account of Kedarnath tragedy The water packets dropped by helicopters too could not be of much use for the pilgrims as they fell on the hills Vijayawada: "I have seen pilgrims falling from hillocks as we walked down from Kedarnadh. Some of the pilgrims were crushed to death right in front of us as boulders rolled down from the hills. It was horrible and I lost the hope of coming home," said Satish Agarwal, a survivor from the city, here on Monday while sharing with the local press his dreadful experience at the pilgrim centre that was swept away in the flash floods a week ago. Agarwal, a trader, reached Gowrikund on June 14 and started to walk to Kedarnadh, which is 14 km way. He said that the area received a drizzle on the same day. However, the walk continued till June 15 evening, by which time they had reached Kedarnadh. They took shelter at Bharat Seva Sangham's hall on June 15 and there was heavy rain on the night, which continued till the morning of June 16. "There were about 700 pilgrims around me watching heavy flood flowing down the hills with huge sound. We realized that we were trapped in the flash floods and were not sure of reaching home safe," Agarwal recounted the horrifying experience. He further said that they had taken a different route from Kedarnadh to reach Gowrikund, which was difficult to walk as the original road was washed away in the floods. As they started walking downhill, they were a group of 120 represented by different States. "I am shocked and even cried as people walking by my side, in front and behind were either fell down from the hillock or crushed under the boulders," Agarwal said. "Though the rain and floods caused havoc on the night of June 15, there was no help from the government till June 20. We were left to our fate and there was no water or food. It was on June 20, we saw a helicopter which dropped some food and water packets. These water packets too could not be of much use for the pilgrims as they fell on the hills," he recalled. He further said that several hundreds of pilgrims struggled and starved for survival. He complained against the failure of the government in forecasting the situation and warning the pilgrims in advance. "There was no word of caution from the officials though there was a drizzling on June 14 and a minor rain on the next day," he regretted. Agarwal said that he had visited Kedarnadh to make arrangements for their proposed Jyothirlinga Yagam scheduled to be held from July 10. "I went with a priest to make arrangements. The priest too is safe. But, restoring religious activities at the temple might take some more time due to devastation," he asserted.