179 of stranded Uttarakhand visitors from state

MUMBAI: Of the thousands of pilgrims and visitors stranded in

Uttarakhand

following Friday's massive landslide, as many as 179 are from the state.On Saturday , chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said that state government officials reached out to the collector of Chamoli district, where the landslide has taken place, and were informed that all the pilgrims are safe and within the range of communication.

The road was to be cleared by 3pm on Saturday and efforts were being made to take them to the nearest railway station and bring them back to the state.

Of the 179, 102 are from Aurangabad, 38 from Pune, 33 from Sangli and six from Jalgaon.

“Everyone is safe and we are continuously monitoring the situation,“ said Fadnavis on the floor of the legislative assembly .

Meanwhile, on Saturday , Navi

Mumbai Municipal Corporation

's disaster management cell started two helpline numbers for families of those who have been unable to get in touch with their relatives. One of the first calls was from an NMMC employee, who has not been able to connect with five of his family members since Friday .

“Since it is vacation time, many from Navi Mumbai are expected to have headed to the state too. The civic administration has therefore decided to set up a helpline for relatives who have not been able to get in touch with their near and dear ones post the landslide. They can bring it to the civic administration's notice and we, in turn, will update the help centre set up by the government in

Mantralaya

,“ said additional municipal commissioner Ankush Chavan.

Airoli ward deputy engineer Kalyan Kulkarni has been fran tically searching for the whereabouts of his mother, Radhabai Kulkarni (78), brothers Prabhakar (62) and Narayan (46,) and their wives, who had gone on the Chardham pilgrimage.

“The last call I received was from my younger brother on Friday morning, informing us that he had successfully completed the visit to Kedarnath and was headed to Badrinath.“

Dr Yogeshwar Sharma, president, Kauthig Foundation, an organization that hosts Uttarakhand festivals and events in the city, said there are 15,000-odd people from Uttarakhand who live in Navi Mumbai. “Until Saturday evening, there was no information of injury to any families from the state,“ said Sharma.

The administration has promised to provide all possible assistance to the affected and has informed that they are in touch with tour and travel operators as well.

The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) personnel are working round-the-clock to clear the debris that has blocked the route at

Hathipahad

, near Vishnuprayag.

So far, around 250 pilgrims have been pulled out from the immediate route of the landslide, said officials from the state disaster management cell.