‘Were confined to a room for two days’

INDORE: "A few hours delay in construction of bridge at Damta, and we would have lost our lives. We were among the 200-odd pilgrims stranded at Damta on June 19, as the bridge connecting it with the road to Mussoorie was swept away by floods. We started yelling out of fear and the authorities and army carved a new road in mountains between Damta and Mussoorie," said property dealer from Indore, MohanJoshi.
A 12-strong group of pilgrims from Purohit and Joshi family (not the same family that lost its seven members in Uttarakhand floods) families of Siddhi Puram and Narayan Bag localities of Indore returned safely from Uttarakhand on Thursday.
Earlier, the Joshi family after offering prayers at Yamunotri had to return mid way from the route to Gangotri. With the road ahead being badly damaged due to flood and landslides, the two families made a halt of two days in a single room in Barkot (in Uttarkashi district), before the debris on the road ahead cleared on June 18 morning.
‘Those who returned safely to Indore on Thursday, included Rekha Purohi (28) her two children Bhavya (3) and Tarushi (7), Pannalal Joshi (70), his wife Shanti Joshi (65), besides Pannalal’s elder son Gopal Joshi (43) his wife Kanchan (40). The group of survivors also had Gopal’s younger brother Mohan Joshi (35), his wife Mamta (30) their son Ojaswi (4), besides Gopal’s children Payal (20) and Nikhil (17).