3 min learnMumbaiUp to date: Aug 29, 2026 06:14 AM IST
Whilst rescue efforts entered the third day within the flood-ravaged areas along the Nepal-Tibet border, households of pilgrims from Maharashtra remained with out details about their family members, with a number of nonetheless untraceable.
Amongst these whose whereabouts stay unknown are Thane-based Aparna and Sameer Joshi, who had travelled to the area for the Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra. Sameer’s brother Sachin Joshi stated the household final heard from him on August 26, when he despatched them {a photograph} at round 7.30 am. “His final WhatsApp standing was additionally from round that point,” stated Sachin.
Each Aparna and Sameer work within the companies sector and, in line with kinfolk, had been wanting ahead to the journey, their first go to to Nepal. Their household has since obtained a number of calls from the workplace of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Richa Excursions and Travels, the tour operator by which that they had travelled, however these have supplied little readability.
In keeping with the Maharashtra catastrophe administration division, over 290 vacationers from the state stay stranded within the nation. Of those, greater than 60 Maharashtrians had been a part of the Kailash-Mansarovar trek organised by Hills and Trails, the Mumbai-based companion of Nepalese company Richa Excursions and Travels and are untraceable.
“To date, 395 folks from Maharashtra have been confirmed to be caught in Nepal. Of those, 105 are on their means again to India, whereas our management room has established contact with the remaining 290 folks, who’re protected however stranded in numerous elements of Nepal,” a state authorities official stated.
From the Hills and Trails cohort, Thane-based retired IT consultants Rekha and Satish Patankar are additionally amongst these lacking. In keeping with Satish’s brother Sanjay, the couple had gone for immigration at round 8.30 am earlier than communication with the household stopped. The couple had informed their household they anticipated to cross the border the next day.
Sanjay stated the household learnt in regards to the floods in Nepal early Wednesday afternoon, however the gravity of the scenario grew to become obvious solely later. “Initially, it didn’t strike us. Nonetheless, as stories of lacking vacationers from Timure started pouring in, we began frantically reaching out to my brother and native authorities,” he informed The Indian Categorical. Their youngsters, Apporva and Ankur Patankar, who’re primarily based within the US, have been attempting to hunt assist in finding their mother and father.
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“The operator knowledgeable us that your complete space has been ravaged by floods… There’s little or no hope at this second.”
Because the wait continues, households of the lacking have turned to social media platforms, together with Instagram and Fb, to flow into lacking posters and search data. A WhatsApp group comprising households and acquaintances of 27 lacking members of the Hills and Trails group can also be actively sharing data and coordinating efforts.
