India has requested Kathmandu for help in evacuating the stranded. (Representational Image)
Two Indian pilgrims on the Kailash Mansarovar yatra have died while over 1,500 pilgrims are stranded in Nepal due to bad weather. India has requested Kathmandu for help in evacuating the stranded. Indian officials said that more than 100 pilgrims from India were evacuated from Nepal’s Simikot region and rescue work has been intensified to bring back those stuck along the route to Kailash Mansarovar in China’s Tibetan region.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office said he was in touch with the Ministry of External Affairs as well as other officials concerned and issued instructions to extend all possible assistance to the stranded Indians. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted that 525 pilgrims are stranded in Simikot, 550 in Hilsa and another 500 are stuck on the Tibet side, adding that India has requested the Nepal government for Army helicopters to evacuate them.
“So far 104 pilgrims have been rescued… Seven commercial flights have so far been operated for the rescue work,” officials said in New Delhi. The evacuated pilgrims were taken to Nepalganj, bordering India. Nepal Police said two Indian pilgrims — Narayanam Leela, 56, of Kerala and Satya Laxmi of Andhra Pradesh — died.
Swaraj said India has set up hotlines for pilgrims and their family members who will be provided information in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam languages. “Indian Embassy in Nepal has deployed representatives in Nepalganj and Simikot. They are in touch with the pilgrims and ensuring that food and lodging facilities are available to all the pilgrims,” she said.
The Indian Embassy in Nepal has asked all tour operators to try and hold pilgrims back on the Tibet side as far as possible since the medical and civic facilities on Nepal side are inadequate.