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Several NRIs, OCIs missing in Nepal floods as frantic family calls hit cellphone connectivity hurdle
Families of missing NRIs and OCIs are struggling to trace their people after Nepal floods cut phone and road links, where many tourists remain unaccounted
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Viswanahan Venkatesh has been making frantic calls from Sydney to find out the whereabouts of his brother, Sreedharan Iyer, Iyer’s wife Lakshmi and their children, Rudhra and Rishab—all Australian citizens — who were among a group of 13 people visiting Nepal and have remained untraceable since flash floods wreaked havoc in the Himalayan nation on Wednesday.
Among the over 1,500 missing persons in the Nepal flash floods are a number of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs).
“All 13 including my brother’s family were in Rasuwa. They were accompanied by their close friends who are also NRIs and OCIs,” said Venkatesh, a resident of Sydney. “They were supposed to cross the Nepal border yesterday (Wednesday) after having breakfast at the hotel in Rasuwa, Nepal. The tour operators said they are also unable to get any information about the whereabouts of the whole group.”
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Venkatesh said he has been calling different helpline numbers in Nepal to find out about his brother and his family, albeit without any success. “Getting connected to the helpline in Nepal is also a problem because of the connectivity issue as well as the language barrier.”
With cellphone connectivity down in the primary hotspot of Rasuwa district and road connectivity closed due to washed-away bridges, family members of those touring Nepal are unsure whether their loved ones are stranded in the hills, or have taken shelter in local schools (as many others reportedly have in the higher reaches), or the worst, did not survive the flash floods. A Nepal army spokesperson told HT that authorities were working to restore road and phone connectivity in Rasuwa.
Among those missing are locals, tourists from over 30 countries, mostly from India, the US, UK, Australia, Ukraine, Malaysia, Canada and Singapore. The ministry of external affairs (MEA) has said that at least 290 Indian citizens are “not contactable” yet. Most tourists were in Rasuwa either for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, via Tibet, or for two popular treks — the Langtang trek and Gosai Kunda.
Astitva Agarwal, whose brother-in-law Himanshu Agarwal, a Canadian citizen, is also among the missing, said most families are unsure if the hotel where pilgrims were lodged in Rasuwa is intact or has been blown away in the flash floods. Agarwal was among the 25 Canadian nationals, who too were supposed to enter Tibet on Wednesday. “My sister had last spoken to her husband on Tuesday night. Once we heard of the incident on Wednesday morning, we tried to call Himanshu but to no avail. We have seen photos of the hotel where they were staying but unsure if it is still there. I am making arrangements to fly to Nepal and join the rescue ops,” Agarwal said.
The Himalayan Glacier Adventure and Travel Company, one among the many tour operators hired by people to take them to Kailash Mansasovar pilgrimage, is assisting the families. “Eight of our staff members are also missing. We are unable to reach our local contacts in Rasuwa. The roads are also blocked and phone connectivity is down. We have compiled photos of at least 46 people who are still missing,” tour organiser Neupane said.
Over the last 36 hours, families have managed to gather details about the places where their relatives were staying and their itineraries, including the minutest details of their journeys. Among the details recovered by families are those of vehicles that were to drop different groups of pilgrims at the border.
Vikram Kuvalala,a Mumbai resident, said his sister, Shital Chetan Chauhan, a US national, is also missing. “When we spoke to her last, she was having her breakfast at the Kailash Hotel in Rasuwa. According to the itinerary she was supposed to leave for the border in a jeep. We do not know if anything has happened to her at the hotel or while travelling to the border,” Kuvalala said.
Officials from Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) said road travel to Rasuwa was hit because bridges connecting it with Kathmandu were also washed away in the flood. “Bridges in Betrawati, which connect Rasuwa with Kathmandu, were broken and washed away. Many villages have been washed away along the bridges in Betrawati. For now the priority is finding the people who were reported missing or those who are injured. The most critical ones are being airlifted to Kathmandu. Searches are being conducted in districts like Chitwan where most bodies (132) were recovered after being swept away by the flood,” an official said.
Brigadier General Rajaram Basnet, spokesperson of the Nepal Army, said that over 4,200 army personnel are engaged in the search and rescue operations across the vulnerable districts. “Work is on to restore road communication and phone networks in Rasuwa. Currently, they are being rescued by 14 choppers. Today at least 779 people were airlifted of which 119 are foreigners while the rest are Nepalese citizens. The priority is to find all the people reported missing. This also includes our 44 army personnel. The searches are being conducted round-the-clock.”
