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MUMBAI: "We had visited Gangotri and Yamnotri, and were just 14km short of reaching the Kedarnath temple when we were almost swept away by the flood waters," recalled ChaturbhujSarvaiyya (73), who was among the around 500 pilgrims who arrived in Mumbai on a special train on Sunday morning. After Chaturbhuj and his wife Devyani (63) got off the train, they immediately left for their hometown near Shirdi in Ahmednagar district—more than 200km away from Mumbai. Around 1,500 pilgrims boarded the 16-coach special train arranged by the Western Railway (WR) for free transit from Haridwar station to Mumbai. Several pilgrims were dropped at various destinations in Rajasthan and Gujarat before the train fianlly reached Mumbai Central at 4am. "Depending on the demand, we plan to operate more such special trains to bring back pilgrims stranded in Uttarakhand. The train will commence its journey from Haridwar. We will attach extra coaches to a few other trains operating between Dehradun and Mumbai," said Sharat Chandrayan, WR chief spokesperson.

The Sarvaiyyas, along with a group of 15 pilgrims, were stranded for more than three days near Kedarnath.

"As we were walking towards Kedarnath, we saw nature's fury from close quarters. We were forced to return to our lodge and were ensconced in the hills for three days with minimum ration. Prayers were our only hope," said Chaturbhuj.

When the weather cleared a bit, the group was taken to a safe base by bus. "We had a tough drive to Haridwar. The roads were very bad. We were shocked to see the damaged buildings, roads, bridges and areas near the shrines. By God's grace we reached Haridwar station, where the railway authorities had arranged for a special train to get us back to Mumbai," he added.

"These were the most unforgettable four days of my life; we were worried we would not reach home alive," said Dombivli resident Ramesh Patil (50), who undertakes the Char Dham Yatra every year in June with a group of devotees from the local Pimpleshwar temple.

Patil was among a group of 81 pilgrims stranded in the hills for four days, and finally rescued by the army.