NEW DELHI: More than 1,500 Indian
pilgrims are stranded along the Nepalganj-Simikot-Hilsa route of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra (through Nepal) after heavy rains caused landslips along the route of the pilgrimage.
As of today morning, the weather remains inclement and there is very little chance of operating flights to evacuate the stranded pilgrims.
As per the latest information available with the
Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, there are about 525 pilgrims stranded in Simikot, 550 in Hilsa and another 500 on the
Tibet side.
The Indian Embassy has sent its representatives to Nepalganj and Simikot, and they are personally in touch with the stranded pilgrims. The representatives are ensuring that proper food and lodging facilities are available to all the pilgrims
The Embassy has asked all tour operators to try and hold pilgrims back on the Tibet side as medical and civic facilities on the Nepal side are inadequate. They have further been told to accord priority to clearing up the situation in, which has the least infrastructure in the area.
The Embassy is also looking at various alternatives to evacuate people from Simikot, including searching for alternative routes like perhaps the Simikot-Surkhet, Simikot-Jumla or Simikot-Mugu routes. All these routes, however, appear to be as difficult as Simikot-Nepalganj. The Embassy is also trying to press in the services of Nepal Army helicopters, which can operate over difficult terrain.
The Indian mission is also setting up a hot line for pilgrims and their family members. This would with staff that speak Tamil, Telugu Kannada and Malayalam, as many of the pilgrims are from states where these languages are spoken.
Thousands of Indian pilgrims take part in the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra every year via Nepal in the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China ahead of monsoon season.
The tour is organised by the Ministry of External Affairs each year between June and September in cooperation with the government of People's Republic of China through two different routes - Lipulekh Pass (Uttarakhand) and Nathu La Pass (Sikkim).
Hotline Numbers
Pranav Ganesh, first secretary (consular) - +977-9851107006
Tashi Khampa, second secretary (consular) - +977-9851155007
Tarun Raheja, attache (consular) - +977-9851107021
Rajesh Jha, aso (community welfare) - +977-9818832398, +977-9851165140
Yogananda (hotline - Kannada) - +977-9823672371
Pindi Naresh (hotline - Telugu) - +977-9808082292
R Murugan (hotline - Tamil) - +977-9808500642
C Ranjith (hotline - malayalam) - +977-9808500644
Read this story in Bengali
Mansarovar pilgrims