BHOPAL: On Raksha Bandhan, while Hindus across the world celebrated the eternal bond between brothers and sisters, a cardiologist in Madhya Pradesh’s Vidisha district and a homemaker in Bhopal prayed for the safe return of their siblings, who are untraceable in the flood-ravaged Nepal.
Swati Bagrecha, 49, the Canadian citizen sister of Vidisha-based cardiologist Dr Prashant Bagrecha, is among the 77 pilgrims associated with Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev’s ISHA Foundation, who are missing since Wednesday.
“My sister Swati is a bank employee settled in Canada. She, along with her British citizen friend Neetu Goyal Tiwari, was part of the 77-strong group which was on its way back from Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. She (Swati) had messaged me while starting the return journey at around 4.30 am.
At 9 am, we were told by the group’s leader, Praveen, that the entire group of pilgrims had reached the Tibet-Nepal border and was undergoing necessary formalities at the immigration checkpoint in Gyirong. It was at that time that the flood ravaged the entire area. Since then neither the group leader nor any other member of the group, including my sister or her friend, can be contacted,” Dr Bagrecha said on Friday.
In Bhopal’s adjoining Kolar area, a middle-aged homemaker, Devaki Adhikari, too, is praying for the safety of her two brothers and sisters-in-law—Krishna-Radhika Khanal and Ramchandra and Bhavati Khanal.
An inconsolable Devaki Adhikari said “Not just my brothers and sisters-in-laws, who live in Nepal, but also 25 more people, all of whom are our relatives, are missing and unreachable. I last spoke to my brothers at 9.30 am on Wednesday. They told me that they had managed to climb a hill, where they had taken shelter on the terrace of a house, which too was partially submerged in the furious flood water below. My brothers told me that their survival seemed impossible and they were finding it tough to take care of their children.”
Himalayan states need round-the-clock vigil: Experts
Glacial lake outburst flood (GLOFs) can be triggered by ice avalanches, rockfalls, landslides, heavy rain, cloudbursts and earthquakes; pressure and erosion can weaken natural dams. Experts said Nepal’s latest disaster was a warning that Himalayan states cannot rely on occasional expeditions alone. They called for round-the-clock sensors, satellite surveillance, early-warning systems and evacuation plans for communities living along vulnerable river valleys downstream.