150 tourists from state in Nepal being brought back by Maha govt

Officials said the state administration was in constant touch with the Indian embassy in Kathmandu and officials from the ministry of external affairs in New Delhi to ensure the tourists’ safe passage back to Maharashtra

MUMBAI: About 150 tourists from Maharashtra, trapped in Nepal amid the country’s violent political instability, are being brought safely back by the government. Eighty-two of them are from Murbad in Thane district, 35 from Pune and 15 from Beed.

150 tourists from state in Nepal being brought back by Maha govt

According to the State Emergency Operations Centre at Mantralaya, all the stranded tourists are safe. The 15 tourists from Beed, who were on a pilgrimage to the Pashupatinath temple, have reached Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh and proceeded on their further journey to Uttarakhand. The rest are expected to begin their return journey from Thursday onwards.

Officials said the state administration was in constant touch with the Indian embassy in Kathmandu and officials from the ministry of external affairs in New Delhi to ensure the tourists’ safe passage back to Maharashtra. “We have issued an advisory to them and asked them to stay indoors,” said Bhalchandra Chavan, director, SEOC. “Helplines ( +977-9808602881, +977-9810326134, and +91-8657112333,) have been opened for stranded tourists and their relatives. We expect the remaining tourists to begin their return journey from tomorrow onwards once the airlines resume operations.”

Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said that the state government was working on a war footing to bring back the tourists unharmed. “This is our top priority,” he said. “The ones from Beed district have left Nepal by road in a private vehicle and reached Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. All the tourists from the state are safe.”

Krishna Kolekar, 20, who was part of the 15-member Beed team on a Char Dham Yatra, left Gorakhpur on Monday for the Pashupatinath Mandir and returned to the city on Wednesday. “We reached Pashupatinath Mandir at 12 am yesterday after a close shave with violent protesters,” he said. “They were approaching and on the verge of targeting us but our driver was clever enough to speedily rush back to Kathmandu. After spending the night at Kathmandu, we went back to Gorakhpur at 6 pm. We will now leave for Haridwar to continue our yatra.”

Meanwhile, the state government has advised citizens to avoid travelling to Nepal. A statement issued by it says, “Coordination was established with the representative at Maharashtra Sadan, New Delhi, and the available information was shared for further follow-up. As per the information received from the Indian Embassy in Nepal, road transport is likely to be restored soon and the situation is improving. Continuous coordination is being maintained with central agencies to obtain further weather forecasts, and the information is being disseminated to citizens.”