Tamil Nadu: Agony mounts for families of 85 missing pilgrims; want Centre to coordinate with China

Chennai: Five days after massive flash floods in the Bhotekoshi River swept through villages in Nepal’s Rasuwa district, washing away structures and individuals, families of 85 tourists from Tamil Nadu are anxiously waiting to hear from their loved ones, who have remained unreachable since the tragedy struck on August 26 on the Nepal-China (Tibet) border.

Of the 305 people from Tamil Nadu who went on the pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar , 199 have returned on their own from Nepal, while 21 tourists caught directly in the flash floods were rescued and brought back to India.

As many as 85 people are still untraceable — 36 from a tourist group en route to undertake the yatra and 49 from a group that had completed the pilgrimage and was returning to Kathmandu.

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Patience eventually gave way to anger as relatives of Rajaram, who is missing in the flash floods, took to the streets late Sunday night. They blocked the busy Chennai-Tiruchirapalli highway in Singaperumal Kovil demanding an official response from authorities concerned on his status and blocking traffic on a 3-km stretch.

It is believed that all 85 missing people were near the Immigration Centre at Gyirong on the Nepal-Tibet border when the catastrophe struck. The centre was washed away, leaving no official information on survivors or the missing.

Relatives have been frantically calling the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu and searching the names of recovered bodies on the Nepal government’s official portal.

They want the Union and state governments to provide information on the search operations in Nepal, share regular updates, and coordinate with China to search for the missing people as their last known location was the Immigration Centre.

“We last heard from my parents on the morning of August 26. Their phones are unreachable. Seven of my family members were part of the group and we have no idea where to ask about their whereabouts,” Niranjana from Tambaram on the outskirts of Chennai said.

She added that her family members had completed their pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar and were on their way to Kathmandu.

Maravel Nagappan, who owns Mahadev Kailash Yatra Agency and took 49 people including his son Sathya Narayanan, asked the Union Government to contact their Chinese counterparts to look for the missing.

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“What we know is that my group was at the immigration centre. From the videos shot there, we can see people running toward the Chinese side to escape. We want our government to coordinate with China to find them,” Maravel told DH .

However, he also expressed fading hope that his 28-year-old son would return home. “If any of them had climbed a ridge, they could have escaped to safety. Otherwise, there is no chance [of them being alive],” he said, adding that organising trips to Kailash Mansarovar was his profession, and he had visited the region twice this year before sending his son with this group.

With sparse information coming from the state and central governments, the families of the missing have formed a WhatsApp group to share whatever details they glean from their own sources.

“We are talking to each other, and that is all we can do for now. We want the government to talk not just to the Nepalese government, but also to the Chinese government to look for the missing,” Maravel added.

Benito Ranjith Raj had kept communicating with his mother, A. Mari Meenal, through the tour operator, Sathyanarayana, until the morning of August 26.

“My mom has been visiting several pilgrimage centres for the past four years after my father’s untimely demise. She had visited Kedarnath and Amarnath in the past and was very eager to go to Kailash Mansarovar,” Ranjith Raj told DH from Madurai.

He also added that no official updates had been provided regarding the status of his 64-year-old mother and the 48 others who travelled with her.