India makes moves to rescue stranded Nepalis

India makes moves to rescue stranded Nepalis

Devendra Bhattarai

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NEW DELHI, JUN 21 -

Indian authorities have taken initiatives to rescue scores of Nepali pilgrims stranded in various places in Uttarakhand State of India.

According to sources, 100 of the 400 stranded Nepali pilgrims arrived in safer places in and around Haridwar on Thursday.

The Nepali Embassy in New Delhi has started submitting information of the Nepali pilgrims to India’s Ministry of External Affairs.

Acting Nepali Ambassador to India Tirtha Raj Wagle said the embassy has so far collected the names of around 50 Nepalis and informed the authorities concerned.

Indian media reported that 30,000 of the 60,000 people stranded in the flood s and landslides have been airlifted to Dehradun.

Meanwhile, three Nepali youths from Talegaun-4 in Jajarkot district are reported missing in a landslide at Gaurikunda in Uttarakhand. One of the victims’ friends in Jajarkot confirmed the incident on Thursday. The three had gone to India in search of jobs, the victims’ friend told our Jajarkot correspondent.

More than 100 ‘safe’

KATHMANDU: More than 70 Nepali nationals stranded in the Indian state of Uttarakhand following torrential rains and landslides have been rescued by the Indian government, the Foreign Ministry here said on Thursday. Another 48 Nepalis have left Rishikesh and Haridwar and headed for their respective destinations in a bus.

Most of the Nepalis were bound for Badrinath-Kedarnath, a pilgrimage site for Hindus, when they were stranded after heavy rains triggered massive flood s in the area. “The Indian government’s rescue teams have airlifted at least 70 Nepali nationals from various parts of Uttarakhand and taken them to Risikesh, Haridwar and other places. Three separate groups of Nepalis have left for safer places in buses,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Arjun Bahadur Thapa said. Many of those travelling by the bus are from Bhaktapur district, Thapa said. According to him, seven Nepalis are, however, still missing.

Following reports that said as many as 400 Nepali pilgrims are stranded in the Indian state, the Foreign Ministry directed its New Delhi-based mission to take up the matter with the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.