In Nepal, 336 Indian pilgrims returning from Kailash Mansarovar Yatra have been evacuated from Simikot on Wednesday.

The stranded pilgrims were airlifted from Simikot to Surkhet by 17 flights and 3 sorties of Nepal Army chopper arranged by the Embassy of India.

Later these pilgrims were sent to Nepalgunj by the buses.

The Embassy also operated 50 sorties of helicopters between Hilsa and Simikot and evacuated 250 people from Hilsa to Simikot.

Nearly 500 stranded pilgrims have been evacuated from Simikot since Tuesday.

The Indian Embassy has said that situation is under control and there is no need to panic.

The Mission has also said that only one death of stranded pilgrim has been reported from Simikot and Hilsa so far.

The Embassy is closely monitoring the situation and taking all possible steps to evacuate all Indians and Indian-origin people.

The Mission is also exploring possibility of hiring chartered helicopters and operating them on various evacuation routes subject to weather conditions and willingness and ability of carrier to fly on these routes.

Over 1000 pilgrims are still stranded in Simikot, Hilsa and Tibet side.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday tweeted saying, “We have requested government of Nepal for army helicopters to evacuate stranded Indian nationals. We have set up hotlines for pilgrims and family members who will provide information in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam languages.”

The helpline numbers are: 

Pranav Ganesh First Secy +977-9851107006

Tashi Khampa +977-98511550077

Tarun Raheja +977-9851107021

Rajesh Jha +977-9818832398

Yogananda +977-9823672371 (Kannada)

Pindi Naresh +977-9808082292 (Telugu)

R Murugan +977-98085006 (Tamil)

Ranjith +977-9808500644 (Malayalam)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in touch with MEA and other top officials regarding the well being of Indian pilgrims stranded in Nepal.

In his tweet message he said that he asked officials to extend all possible assistance to those affected. The Indian embassy in Nepal is working on the ground and assisting the pilgrims.