404 Maharashtra residents confirmed safe but stranded in Nepal, 60 still untraceable

As many as 404 people from Maharashtra are confirmed safe, though currently stuck in different parts of Nepal, following the devastating flash floods, a state government official said on Friday, adding that 60 tourists still could not be traced.

The official from the State Disaster Management Department said 105 people from Maharashtra who had been in Nepal at the time of the disaster have already made it back to India.

"All of them are from Nagpur and they will return home as per their schedule," the official said.

He said contact could not be made with 60 people from the state who had travelled to Nepal on a tour arranged by Mumbai-based Richa Tours Pvt Ltd.

"So far, 404 people from Maharashtra have been confirmed to be stuck in Nepal. Of these, 105 are back in the country, while our control room has established contact with the remaining 299 people, who are safe but stranded in various parts of Nepal," he said.

On Wednesday, a sudden and massive flood surged down the Bhote Koshi river in Rasuwa district, near the border with Tibet, leaving hundreds dead and causing large-scale destruction.

Separately, 37 pilgrims who had been stuck in Tibet after finishing the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra set off for Kathmandu on Friday morning, after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis stepped in to help. 

The Chief Minister's Office said the group, made up of pilgrims from Thane, Pune, Raigad, Alibag and Dombivli, left Saga in Tibet at around 6 am, crossing through the Nyalam check-post, and is now making its way toward the Nepalese capital.

According to the CMO statement, their flight back from Kathmandu is scheduled for 2 pm on August 29.

Shiv Sena leader Dr Deepak Sawant told PTI that no one has been able to reach a group of 61 people from Mumbai, who were travelling under the leadership of mountaineer Dr Milind Chitley and his wife, Dr Janhavi.

"No contact has been established with them yet. The group includes my wife's dentist friend Dr Meenakshi Ramani and her two relatives," he said.

Sawant said that going by their travel plan, the group would have been crossing the Nepal-China border checkpoint right around the time the flash floods hit, and no one has heard from any of them since.  (with inputs from PTI)