TIRUPATI: Twenty eight pilgrims from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, who had a slim escape from the devastating flash floods in Nepal, returned safely to their respective hometowns on Saturday.Talking to TOI, Tirupati-based Signal In Travels managing director Pemmasani Venkataramana, who was a part of the 28-member group enterprise the Kailash Mansarovar yatra, recalled how a quick tea break and a 10-minute delay proved essential in saving their lives.“We had been supposed to succeed in Syabrubesi, alongside the Nepal-Tibet border, early. However a tea break and a 10-minute delay saved the lives of all 28 of us. Our driver responded swiftly to the calamity, took a detour and moved us to security,” Venkataramana mentioned.One other pilgrim, Krishnaiah Muthyala of Visakhapatnam, mentioned a three-day delay in acquiring their visas inadvertently saved the group from being caught within the flash floods.“Our group (28 pilgrims from AP, Telangana and Karnataka) was scheduled to go to Mansarovar. The three-day delay in getting our visas additionally delayed our total journey. In any other case, we might have been on the Syabrubesi bridge when it was washed away within the floods. All of us may have misplaced our lives,” Krishnaiah mentioned.Kalpana, one other pilgrim from Tirupati, described the horrifying scenes she witnessed because the group got here head to head with the devastation.“After receiving our visas, we left the resort at round 6.30 am. After travelling about 80 km, we stopped for a tea break. Simply then, our driver acquired an alert in regards to the flash floods forward. He instantly took a U-turn and drove us to security,” she mentioned.“We noticed a number of buses, together with two carrying pilgrims from Kolkata, being swept away by the floodwaters proper earlier than our eyes. There was panic in all places. A number of villages had been utterly washed away or marooned. We held our nerves as our driver transported us safely again to our resort in Kathmandu,” Kalpana recalled.In the meantime, Andhra Pradesh Bhavan officers in New Delhi confirmed that Bhaskar Shastry and three others from Kurnool district, who had been a part of a 144-member group, have safely reached Nyalam County. Preparations have been made for his or her protected return to Kathmandu by way of the Kodari border.Their return flight from Kathmandu to New Delhi has been confirmed for Sep 1, the officers mentioned, including that they’re intently coordinating with the Ministry of Exterior Affairs to hint and rescue individuals from the state who stay stranded in Nepal.
