MUMBAI, July 2 -- Around a hundred pilgrims from Maharashtra, trapped by the cloudburst that struck the Char Dham Yatra in Uttarakhand on June 28, walked 6km to escape starvation after being stuck for more than two days in their hotels as food ran out. Members of the group spoke to HT as they picked their way downhill in the rain, across slippery mountain terrain, towards Barkot, the nearest village. "We started to wonder whether we would get out of our hotel at all. Since we had run out of food and drinking water, it was not possible to stay. Eventually, we left. Hopefully, we will reach safely before it rains again," said a weary Sujay Dalvi, a 48-year-old resident of Thane, on the yatra with five friends. Pilgrims in more ways than one, the group was among thousands who had visited the Yamunotri Dham shrine on Saturday, when tragedy struck at night. Torrential rains triggered at least two massive landslides, cutting off the Yamunotri area, where the yatris had checked into hotels. There were four hotels in the area, each one accommodating around 250 yatris. Dalvi said they had been cautioned against leaving. "It was dangerous but we did not want to starve." Along with scores of others, around 100 yatris from Maharashtra were driven 14km in private taxis to a point near the landslide. From here, the group started the long and precarious trek 6km downhill, sometimes with earthmovers clearing debris just above them. Eventually, they reached the Barkot bus station. Now clear of the danger zone - the irony was not lost on them - the Uttarakhand government arranged vehicles to take them to the town, where they could check into hotels. Some of the pilgrims were very agitated at the lack of government support through their ordeal - neither had the Uttarakhand government, nor the Maharashtra authorities reached out, despite the danger to their lives. There were no tents pitched along the way, nor were there any arrangements for food or water, nor security personnel to help the stranded tourists to make it to Barkot. "Only our faith kept us going," said Mangesh Gupta, also a resident of Thane. "At one point, two government vehicles approached us as we walked to Barkot," recalled Gupta. "They picked up 30 people from our group and drove off. It gave us hope that we too would be rescued but no one came for us," he added. "This is a religious yatra and there are many elderly people with us, but the authorities don't care." A few hours later, HT checked in with the group once more. They had made it to the town. Aakash Jadhav, a resident of Mahabaleshwar said, "We were all panicking. My father is 60 and my mother is 57 years old. I have no idea how my parents completed the journey." His brother Ashish said, "Thank God we have reached this town alive. The government has told us not to proceed till further notice." Then, he added, "If possible, we will complete the rest of the darshan and cancel it only if we absolutely have to." Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde and Shiv Sena played a significant role in helping the stranded Maharashtrians in Uttarakhand. Many of them come from Satara district, where Shinde hails from. Shinde spoke to Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and requested him for help after which the National Disaster Response Force was asked to help the stranded Maharashtrians. According to a press note issued by Shiv Sena, over 150 tourists were trapped and it will take at least eight days for things to get back to normalcy....