THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who arrived in Kathmandu on Wednesday unaware of the devastating flash floods in northern Nepal, expressed concern over the loss of lives and widespread destruction caused by the disaster.
“Took off for Kathmandu yesterday, blissfully unaware of the drama that had taken place in the hills and caused such catastrophic damage,” Tharoor said on Thursday in a post on X.
The Congress Working Committee member said he learnt about the scale of the disaster after arriving in Kathmandu, with the death toll reaching 160 and around 2,000 or more people estimated to be missing.
“Learned on arrival of the loss of life (now confirmed at 160 so far) and the fact that some 2000 or more people are estimated to be missing,” the Thiruvananthapuram MP said.
A severe, sudden flash flood struck northern Nepal’s Rasuwa district near the Tibet border, causing widespread destruction along the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli rivers.
Tharoor said experts had suggested that global warming and/or an earthquake in Tibet may have caused a large chunk of a glacier to break off and fall into the valley below.
The raging floodwaters destroyed at least 19 motorable bridges, washed away around 40 km of the Betrawati-Rasuwagadhi highway and heavily damaged eight operational hydropower projects, he said.
“I fully support the Indian government’s immediate pledge of relief assistance. Nepal needs all the help it can get,” Tharoor said.
Expressing concern over the Indian tourists affected by the disaster, he said, “My heart goes out to the victims and their loved ones, who include large numbers of Indian tourists, including a hundred performing the Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra.”
“Prayers for the missing; may they be rescued soon,” the former Union Minister added.
The flash floods that swept through parts of the Nepal-Tibet border on Wednesday have left thousands of people missing, including nearly 300 Indian tourists, according to Nepal’s Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal.
The floods wreaked havoc across three districts in the Himalayan country.
(With inputs from PTI)