According to the Nepal embassy in New Delhi, a group of 29 Nepali nationals have arrived in Karnaprayag from Josimath near Badrinath on Friday. Similarly, four people have been rescued from Kedarnath and are now safe at Haridwar. The details of those rescued are yet to be known. [break]
Unfortunately, around 30 Nepali pilgrims are currently stranded in Badrinath. “As per the information given by the members of the group rescued today (Friday), some 30 Nepali nationals are currently stranded at Badrinath,” Tirtha Raj Wagle, Nepal´s acting envoy to India, told Republica, adding, “They are waiting to be rescued. The security forces are trying to rebuild road connections and it seems that those stranded can be rescued only after that.”
Around 400 Nepali nationals were reported missing in the devastated Indian state since the past few days.
On Thursday, around 118 Nepalese were rescued. While 48 Nepalis were rescued from Rishikesh, around 70 were rescued from other flood-hit areas. It is estimated that more than 249 Nepalis are still missing or are yet to come into contact with the rescue workers or their families.
“The figure has been ascertained after contacting hotels, dharmashalas and tour operators,” Wagle said.
On Thursday, the embassy had forwarded some 60 names of those missing to India´s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The government of Nepal has sought help from the MEA to help rescue the missing Nepalis. The Uttarakhand government is also helping to trace the missing Nepali nationals and have put any information available on its official website -- www.uk.gov.in
In addition, there is confirmed report that 14 Nepali nationals, who landed safe in Dehradun, the provincial capital of Uttarakhand, from Tehri have left for their homes on Friday. “It is unclear if these 14 are the same people who arrived safely to Dehradun on Thursday. So we are not counting them amongst those rescued today,” Wagle added.
To add to the anxiety, it is also said that some 100 Nepali labourers from Rukum are missing in Uttarakhand at present. They had reached the Indian state in the month of Baishak from Nepal in search of livelihood. They were most probably employed as loaders and porters.
“I have received phone inquiries regarding whereabouts of some 100 laborers from Rukum today from their family members,” Wagle said. “The families have said that two or three of them have come in contact. But we have no further information on the whereabouts of others.”
According to a press release issued by the Nepal embassy in New Delhi on Friday, the embassy has sent a two-member delegation today to inspect the situation in Dehradun, Haridwar and Tehri.
The number of those killed due to floods, cloudbursts and landslides has reached 207 in Uttarakhand by the time this story was filed. The number of casualty is expected to rise much higher.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in Kathmandu on Friday said a total of 176 Nepali pilgrims travelling to Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri of India came into contact with the Nepal embassy in New Delhi while another 29 were airlifted to Rishikesh by the Indian government as a part of its ongoing rescue efforts.
“The Nepali embassy in New Delhi is in constant touch with the Indian rescuers and doing the needful to rescue the stranded Nepali pilgrims. There has not been any information about deaths of Nepali pilgrims yet,” MoFA Spokesperson Arjun Bahadur Thapa said at a regular press conference held at MoFA on Friday.
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