Bhubaneswar/Cuttack, June 21: The Odisha government today said 80 pilgrims have been rescued from the disaster zone in Uttarakhand and are on their way home. About 150 to 200 people from Odisha are stranded in Uttarakhand.

“Around 2pm today, we received information that all our family members and relatives who were stranded in Uttarakhand were rescued,” said Sachidananda Sahu, whose family had gone on a pilgrimage to Kedarnath.

Sahu’s son and his family were stranded at Devikund near Gaurigaon for the past five days while five of their relatives were trapped near Sonprayag. They had left Cuttack on June 8. “My son-in-law, who works with the forest department in Dehradun, informed me that all the family members were rescued by the army today and are on their way home,” Sahu said.

The state government has deputed two teams led by joint resident commissioner Tribikram Pradhan from New Delhi. They are stationed in Dehradun and Haridwar. Another team was on its way to Dehradun. These teams are in touch with people from Odisha who have been airlifted from Kedarnath. They are facilitating their onward journey to Odisha.

A 24-hour control room is functioning at Odisha Bhavan in New Delhi whose helpline numbers are 011-23019771/23018498.

The office of the resident commissioner of the state government is in touch with the Uttarakhand administration. It is passing on information received by the control room for safe return of pilgrims from Odisha.

Arrangements have been made to provide food, accommodation and medical assistance to the pilgrims returning to Odisha Bhavan in New Delhi. Railway authorities have also been approached to assist them to return to Odisha.