Dehradun, May 21 -- Over 10,000 pilgrims stranded on the Kedarnath yatra route, after a landslide blocked the Sonprayag-Gaurikund road in Rudraprayag district, were safely evacuated by joint teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) on Tuesday night, officials said on Wednesday. The landslide occurred in the Munkatia area between Sonprayag and Gaurikund on Tuesday evening, disrupting the main route to Kedarnath and leaving a large number of pilgrims stranded amid heavy rain, darkness and continuous falling debris. SDRF Commandant Arpan Yaduvanshi said the District Control Room (DCR) informed SDRF about the incident at around 9.16 pm on Tuesday, following which their team led by sub-inspector Ashish Dimri rushed to the site with rescue equipment. Rescue personnel assisted pilgrims through the damaged section despite persistent rainfall and low visibility, while also helping them reach safer locations, he said. "Our team, along with NDRF personnel, jointly carried out rescue operations under extremely challenging conditions and safely helped around 10,450 pilgrims cross the affected stretch," he said. "The teams remain deployed and alert on the yatra route in anticipation of possible emergencies. Their coordinated response enabled the large-scale rescue operation," Yaduvanshi said. According to him, after completing the evacuation, JCB machines cleared debris from the route, restoring vehicular movement....