Rescued from Nepal, pilgrims recall nightmare

LUCKNOW: Over a hundred pilgrims who reached Charbagh railway station after four days of being stranded in Simikot, Nepal, due to bad weather, on Wednesday recounted their ordeal and expressed disappointment over their failed pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar.

So far, over 350 of 1,500 pilgrims stranded near the Nepal-China border have been rescued. The district administration and railway authorities facilitated the arrival and hotel stay of around 110 passengers in Lucknow.

Anju Jhunjhunwala, who embarked on the pilgrimage with her husband Ranjit Jhunjhunwala 10 days ago, said, “There were 42 pilgrims in my batch. As soon we reached Simikot, there was heavy traffic and weather conditions were terrible. The downpour led to landslides. We spent three days in Simikot and on the fourth day, we reached Hilsa with the help of Indian embassy officials who provided us choppers. The return journey was equally hard. We stayed in Simikot for a day and then, with personal efforts, manage to hire a charter plane to reach Nepalganj. From there, we took a bus to reach Lucknow. Here, were met district administration officials and railway officials who allotted us berths in AC coach of Shramjeevi Express to reach Bhagalpur.”

Another pilgrim, Anbudan E Deenadhayalan, who arrived at Charbagh railway station from Rupaidhiya, Nepalganj said, “I live in Chennai and started for Kailash Mansarovar yatra 20 days ago. As we entered Nepal, there was light rainfall. But in Simikot, heavy rain and landslides led to blocking of all routes. We had one meal a day. After spending two days stranded in Simikot, we met some Indian Embassy officials who provide us a chopper. We had several panic attacks in three days. No personnel from Nepal army came to our rescue,” said Anbudan.

“Over 100 pilgrims have arrived till now, and the operation is still on. We have managed hotels, trains and even flights for pilgrims so that they can reach their destinations safely,” said district magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma.

“We have also alerted all stations so that we can manage special reserved berths for them. We’re coordinating with the district administration to make sure the pilgrims are not inconvenienced,” said divisional railway manager (DRM) of Northern Railway (NR) Lucknow division, Satish Kumar .