BHOPAL: On Raksha Bandhan, as families across the world celebrated the bond between siblings, two families in Madhya Pradesh spent the day praying for the safety of their loved ones missing in flood-ravaged Nepal.
In Vidisha, cardiologist Dr Prashant Bagrecha is anxiously awaiting news of his younger sister Swati Bagrecha, 49, a Canadian citizen who was among a group of pilgrims associated with the Isha Foundation who went missing after floods swept parts of the Nepal-Tibet border on Wednesday.
Swati, a bank employee settled in Canada, was travelling with her British citizen friend Neetu Goyal Tiwari as part of a 77-member group returning from the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.
“My younger 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 returning from Kailash Mansarovar Yatra,” Dr Bagrecha told TNIE on Friday.
According to him, Swati had messaged him around 4.30 am on Wednesday as the group began its return journey. At around 9 am, the group leader, Praveen, informed him that all the pilgrims had reached the Tibet-Nepal border and were completing 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,” he said.
Dr Bagrecha, a cardiologist at Vidisha District Hospital, said he remained in touch with the Indian Embassy in Nepal. He said local MP and Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had also called and assured him of all possible assistance in locating the missing pilgrims.
National Human Rights Commission member Priyank Kanoongo, who is from Vidisha, was also in contact with the family, he said.
According to Dr Bagrecha, Nepalese authorities told him on Friday that his sister's mobile phone had become active and efforts were underway to determine its location.
The uncertainty has been particularly distressing for the family as Swati had planned to be in Vidisha for Raksha Bandhan.
“On Wednesday night, the entire group was supposed to take a flight to India from Kathmandu to be home for Raksha Bandhan,” Dr Bagrecha said.
As the family waits for information, Swati's daughter, along with Dr Bagrecha and other relatives, are hoping for her safe return.
In neighbouring Bhopal, another family is facing a similar ordeal.
Devaki Adhikari, a homemaker from the Kolar area, is praying for the safety of her two brothers, Krishna-Radhika Khanal and Ramchandra-Bhavati Khanal, and their families, who remain uncontactable in Nepal.
According to Adhikari, around 25 other relatives are also missing or unreachable after the floods struck the area while they were returning from a pilgrimage to the high-altitude Gosaikunda lake.
“I last spoke to my brothers at around 9.30 am on Wednesday. They told me they had managed to climb a hill and taken shelter on the terrace of a house, which was also partially submerged in the floodwaters,” Adhikari said.
She said her brothers had told her that they believed their chances of survival were slim and asked her to take care of their children in case they did not make it.
Adhikari, whose husband works at a bank in Bhopal, said her last conversation with her brothers took place after they left their lunch midway at Betrawati Bazar on Wednesday and climbed towards a house on a hill for shelter.
“They have not been reachable since then,” she said.