As many as 290 Indians remain unreachable in flood-hit Nepal, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) said on Thursday. According to the MEA’s latest update, issued at 8 pm on Thursday, 84 Indians were rescued, which included 63 workers of the Trishuli-I project and 21 people from Tamil Nadu who had travelled to Nepal for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.
Also read: Grim aerial footage captures Nepal floods’ trail of destruction, 800 still missing
Tamil Nadu: 86 remain missing
As many as 83 pilgrims, mostly women, from Tamil Nadu, and three from Puducherry remained unreachable in Nepal on Thursday, said Tamil Nadu minister A Rajmohan.
Deep Dive
How many Indians are still uncontactable due to the Nepal floods?
What measures are being taken by the Indian government to locate missing individuals in Nepal?
Which states in India have reported missing persons in the Nepal floods?
In an announcement made in the state assembly, Rajmohan said overall 106 pilgrims, including three from Puducherry, had gone to Nepal under the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra in multiple groups. “Currently, 86 of them could not be traced due to the flash floods in Nepal,” he said.
Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay conducted a review meeting to oversee the relief measures, the government said.
{{/usCountry}}Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay conducted a review meeting to oversee the relief measures, the government said.
{{/usCountry}}Also read: 21 Tamil Nadu pilgrims stuck in Nepal flash floods safe, search on for 36
West Bengal: 32 tourists missing
A group of 32 pilgrims, including from West Bengal who had gone for the Kailash-Manasarovar Yatra remained missing, said Dibyajyoti Basu, founder of Cholo Jai, the travel agency in Kolkata through which the tourists had gone to Nepal. “There were 30 tourists and two of our staff,” said Basu.
Sharmistha Bhowmik Roy, daughter-in-law of former Union minister Mukul Roy and 61-year-old Subhash Chandra Ghosh, a former employee of SAIL are among the missing people.
Sharmishta’s husband, Subhranshu, former TMC MLA from Bijpur in North 24 Parganas, told HT, “When we last spoke, she was at Kerung. She mostly spoke with the children. They were supposed to enter Tibet on Wednesday. After seeing the terrifying visuals of the flood washing away the immigration office at Kerung, I have been trying to call her. Her phone is switched off and there is no news of her. We are all very tensed,”
Subhojit Sen, Ghosh’s childhood friend told HT, “He went alone with the team; his wife and two daughters didn’t go. He last updated his status from Rasuwa around 6.14 am on Wednesday. But thereafter there is no update from him. We are trying to reach him. His phone is switched off.”
CM Suvendu Adhikari told reporters on Thursday, “We are in touch with the Indian embassy in Kathmandu. We are preparing for their [missing people’s] safe return.”
Also read: 32-member Kolkata group among many from West Bengal untraceable after Nepal disaster
Gujarat: 17 uncontactable
At least 17 people, including 14 foreign nationals, who travelled from Gujarat are either missing or uncontactable, a State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) official aware of the development said on Thursday.
A person who was initially reported missing has since been confirmed safe, officials said.
Among those missing is an NRI couple from Anand, Bimalkumar Patel, 46, and his wife Jaiminaben Patel, who were last contacted on Wednesday.
Bimalkumar’s brother told media persons that the couple had left their 12-year-old son with him in Anand. “The 12-year-old son doesn’t know what happened to his parents,” he said.
Andhra Pradesh: 7 tourists missing
At least seven people from Andhra Pradesh have so far been identified as missing or stranded in Nepal-China borders, according to the information collected by state authorities on Thursday.
State information technology minister Nara Lokesh and his department officials are closely monitoring the safety of pilgrims stranded along the Nepal-China border through Real Time Governance Society (RTGS).
Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday directed officials to coordinate through all possible channels to ensure the safety and well-being of people stranded in Nepal.
Karnataka: 13 still stranded
At least 13 people from Karnataka, 11 of them from Bengaluru Urban district, are stranded in Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region, chief minister K Shivakumar’s office said on Thursday.
The state government has stepped up efforts to rescue its residents stranded in Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region following flash floods in Nepal that killed several people and left many others stranded.
According to a statement issued by the CMO, the State Emergency Operations Centre had, as of Thursday evening, compiled details of 13 Karnataka residents stranded in Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region. The stranded residents are part of groups that also comprise people from other states.
“Of these, 11 are from Bengaluru Urban district, one from Mysuru district and one from Dharwad district. Most of the stranded persons are located in Timure, Rasuwa district, Nepal, while a few are in Darchen, Tibet Autonomous Region,” the statement said.
Also read: What caused Nepal’s deadly floods? US monitor points to ‘glacier collapse’, not quake
Maharashtra: 106 leave for home
As many as 106 tourists from Nagpur who were stranded in flood-hit Nepal have safely left Kathmandu for Danapur in Bihar following Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’s intervention, his office said on Thursday evening.
Earlier, the state Disaster Management Department had said that at least 114 people from Maharashtra were stuck in the Himalayan nation, and 53 of them were confirmed safe.
Fadnavis called Nepal MP Sandeep Rana, who arranged four mini-buses to transport 106 persons from Kathmandu to Janakpur, the CMO said, adding that they were expected to reach the Janakpur-Bihar border on Friday morning
Odisha: 2 NRIs among 3 missing
An Australia-based couple from Odisha’s Khordha district holidaying in Nepal, and a 20-year-old, remain missing, state officials said.
Siddharthi Kumari Sahu and Sandeep Mohapatra had been living in Australia since 2018, travelled to Nepal on August 22 for sightseeing. Kulsum Nigar, 20, from Baripada town of Mayurbhanj district, is the third Odia reported missing.
Pritish Panda, the nodal officer from Odisha who is coordinating with Ministry of External Affairs said the government is in touch with Mohapatra’s family. “Sandeep last spoke to his younger brother, Saurabh Mahapatra over the phone on August 25. “We are in touch with their family and are trying to collect information and forward it to the Indian Embassy in Nepal,” Panda said.
Chhattisgarh: One woman missing
A woman from Raipur has gone missing in Nepal following the floods in the country, prompting the Chhattisgarh government to coordinate with central agencies and local authorities to trace her, a government press release said on Thursday.
The state government, acting on the instructions of CM Vishnu Deo Sai, is collecting information on Chhattisgarh residents who travelled to or are currently in Nepal, the release said.
Also read: 53 people from Keralam stranded in flood-hit parts of Nepal are safe: Officials
Close to 33 people from Keralam are missing, the MEA said.
Meanwhile, around 14 people from various districts of Uttar Pradesh have contacted the state’s helpline to locate their family members till Thursday.