Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) [India], August 27 (ANI): Families in Coimbatore are awaiting information about relatives who travelled to Nepal as part of a Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage group after losing contact with them following floods in the country.
A five-member group from Coimbatore travelled for the Kailash Yatra through a private travel agency around a week ago.
Among those who travelled were Gayathri, 45, a correspondent at a private school in Saibaba Colony, along with her husband and son Srivanth, 25. Punitha Chandrasekaran, a retired principal of a private school, and her husband Chandrasekaran, a retired professor of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, were also part of the group.
After reaching Kathmandu, Gayathri's husband stayed back while the other four members continued their journey.
Following the floods in Nepal, family members have been unable to establish contact with those who continued their journey, causing concern among relatives and neighbours. The district administration is also making efforts to establish contact with them.
Chandrasekaran's two sons, who are based in Chennai and Bengaluru, have approached the authorities seeking information about their parents.
Speaking to ANI, Chandrasekaran's neighbour Rameshkumar Khanna said he spoke to Chandrasekaran's son Harish, who told him that his parents were in Tibet. Contact with Chandrasekaran was subsequently lost.
"My neighbours Mr Chandrasekar and his wife had gone to Kailash Mansarovar about two weeks back. We were expecting them back tomorrow. This morning I went through the news that Nepal is hit by the floods," Khanna said.
He said the family was later informed that the pilgrims were held up in Tibet and were trying to complete immigration formalities.
"Just 10 minutes ago, I got the information that the building was also hit by the floods, and they don't have any information regarding their parents. They are waiting for the information from Embassies," Khanna said.
Meanwhile, another Coimbatore resident, Dr Suresh Venkatachalam, a retired government hospital doctor, had also travelled to Nepal.
The development comes after a massive debris-carrying flood hit Lhende Khola on Wednesday morning following a reported glacier or ice-rock collapse around 20 km northeast of the Rasuwagadhi border point on the Nepal-China border.
The flood entered the Bhote Koshi River from the Tibet side and flowed through Rasuwagadhi, Timure and Syaphru Besi before reaching the Trishuli River. The incident affected areas along the Trishuli River in Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, Gorkha and Chitwan districts.
Temporary shelters, food, clean water and medicines have been arranged for victims, while authorities are carrying out search and rescue operations and working to locate missing people.
According to the Nepal Tourism Board, preliminary agency-wise records from trekking and travel companies on Thursday identified 644 missing travellers from the affected area, including 178 Indian nationals. (ANI)
Tamil Nadu: Families in Coimbatore await contact with relatives, missing after Nepal floods during Kailash Yatra
