Bhubaneswar: Four Kanwariyas from Odisha’s Keonjhar district, stranded at Kedarnath following a cloudburst and landslide in Uttarakhand on July 31, were rescued safely by the army personnel today.

The Kanwariyas, identified as Rushinath Mohanta, Sadanand Sahu, Kartikeswar Khilar and Maheswar Pradhan, were rescued and brought to a safer place in a chopper.

The Kanwariyas had offered holy water to Lord Kedarnath on July 31. They were supposed to leave Uttarakhand the next day.

However, the four Kanwariyas along with over 2,000 pilgrims got stranded at Kedarnath as the road connecting Sonprayag and Gaurikund along and a few bridges were washed away due to the cloudburst and subsequent landslide in the night hours of July 31.

“The four pilgrims from Odisha’s Keonjhar district were rescued safely from Kedarnath. They will reach Haridwar railway station by road and commence their homeward journey,” said the state government in a statement today.

As per the direction of the Odisha government, Keonjhar Collector Vishal Singh had spoken to his counterpart at Rudraprayag in Uttarakhand yesterday and urged the latter for safe evacuation of the stranded Odia pilgrims.

Notably, the Uttarkhand government along with the Indian Army launched a massive operation to rescue the stranded pilgrims. The authorities have deployed several choppers as part of the rescue operation.