11 Nashik college students escape Nepal flood by two hours, stranded in Kathmandu

The students, from Peth taluka in rural Nashik, crossed the bridge around 9 am on August 26 after visiting Manakamana temple on their way back to Kathmandu. They later learnt that the bridge had collapsed after the river surged.

Pune: Eleven college students from Nashik narrowly escaped flash floods in Nepal after crossing a bridge over the Trishuli River just two hours before surging waters swept it away.

11 Nashik college students escape Nepal flood by two hours, stranded in Kathmandu

The students, from Peth taluka in rural Nashik, crossed the bridge around 9 am on August 26 after visiting Manakamana temple on their way back to Kathmandu. They later learnt that the bridge had collapsed after the river surged.

“We crossed that bridge at around 9 am on August 26 after visiting Manakamana temple. We were on our way back to Kathmandu. Later, we came to know that the bridge had collapsed just two hours after we crossed it. I shudder to think about what could have happened if we had been crossing it when it collapsed,” said Arjun Shinde, a member of the group.

The students travelled by train from Nashik to Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh and hired a minibus to enter Nepal on August 22. They spent three days in Pokhara before travelling to Manakamana on August 26.

They are now stranded in Kathmandu, unable to return to Gorakhpur because debris and mud have damaged several connecting roads. Their plans to visit other temples have also been abandoned.

“We had planned to visit various temples in different parts of Nepal. But now we are stuck in Kathmandu as several roads are damaged. Locals have advised us not to travel at this juncture. We have been told that it may take at least a week for the debris and slush to be cleared and for vehicles to ply on the roads,” Shinde added.

Nashik district collector Ayush Prasad contacted Shinde to enquire about the students’ well-being.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra’s disaster management department is trying to ascertain the number of tourists from the state stranded in Nepal and Tibet.

State disaster management principal secretary Vinita Singal told HT that around 300 tourists from Maharashtra had left Tibet on Friday morning and were travelling towards Kathmandu.

“Many tourists from Maharashtra had completed their Kailash Mansarovar trip and crossed over to Tibet before the flash flood occurred. They have been staying in different towns and villages in Tibet. We are in constant touch with the Ministry of External Affairs and coordinating with the authorities to ascertain details about tourists who are presently in Nepal,” Singal said.

The department has contacted travel agents and is checking Nepal tourist visas issued to Maharashtra residents over the past 10 days to identify those who may be in affected areas.

A 64-member tourist group, including more than 50 people from Nashik, Pune, Mumbai and Kolhapur, left Saga for Kathmandu on Friday afternoon. They abandoned plans to travel to Kyirong because of the flood situation.

Raksha Thakkar, owner of the Mumbai-based travel agency handling the group, said she had been taking tourists to Kailash Mansarovar every year without major problems.

“This flash flood has been terrifying. We faced a similar situation in 2015 during the earthquake in Nepal,” Thakkar said. She added that state disaster management minister Girish Mahajan had contacted her to enquire about the group’s well-being.

Rajesh Patel, a Nashik member of the group, said all 38 Nashik residents had completed the Kailash Mansarovar trip and reached Saga before the floods and landslides.

“We completed the Kailash Mansarovar trip in two days from August 25 and crossed over to Saga in Tibet on the morning of August 26, before the floods and landslides occurred. We stayed in a good hotel at Saga and none of us faced any problem there,” Patel said.

Separately, six Pune tourists stranded in Jilong city in Tibet left for Kathmandu on Friday morning, group member Pooja Bhosale said.