'I just want some news': Mumbai man concerned about cousin who went missing amid floods in Nepal

Mumbai: The rakhi his cousin sent him from Kathmandu reached Mumbai safely. But five days after she went missing amid devastating flash floods near the Nepal-China border, 48-year-old Shital Chohan’s Mumbai-based cousin Siddharth Kuvavala is still waiting for news of her.

A United States citizen of Indian origin from Tennessee, Shital was on her second Kailash-Mansarovar pilgrimage when she went missing on August 26, when the devastating flash floods hit Nepal , which was one of the worst-ever disasters in recent times in the Himalayas.

Her last-known location, tracked through a device in her bag, was Pasang Lhamu, an area affected by the floods triggered by an ice-rock avalanche and glacial collapse in Tibet.

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What was emotional, the rakhi she had sent reached Mumbai, however, there has not been any news of Shital.

Kuvavala is wearing that rakhi even as he is frantically making efforts to locate his cousin — and is in constant communication with the Centre and the Maharashtra government.

“I just want some news about my sister,” an emotional Kuvavala told DH on Monday. “I have been making all possible efforts from this side while her immediate family back in the United States too is leaving no stone unturned,” he said.

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“Through a tracker in her bag we know that her last location was Pasang Lhamu, which we now know was affected by the floods. That was the last location the tracker gave on August 26,” said Kuvavala.

According to him, his cousin was part of a group of around 50 people on a tour that was being conducted by Himalayan Glacier, an operator from Kathmandu.

“This was her second pilgrimage. The first time she went to Kailash-Mansarovar was with the Isha Foundation of Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev,” he said.

“After landing in Kathmandu, she sent a rakhi and sweets box to me. On August 21, we spoke over a WhatsApp call…The rakhi has a symbol of Lord Mahadev, similar to Pashupatinath,” Kuvavala said, adding that his brother-in-law Chetan Chohan and their two children are very concerned. “They are also making efforts through the United States mission in Kathmandu,” he said, adding that any information would be of great help to the family.

Shital had called her parents to Kathmandu from Vadodara in Gujarat and asked them to stay with her for a few days before she began her journey towards Mansarovar. Her parents have now returned, but the family still waits for her.