CHENNAI: What the group initially thought was a dust storm turned out to be a disaster that shook a nation, and the world at large. Of a group of 57 people from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry who set out on a Kailash yatra though a Kumbakonam-based travel operator, 21 survived the flash floods in Nepal and returned to Tamil Nadu on Friday. The whereabouts of the remaining 36 are yet to be ascertained.
“We initially saw clouds of dust at a distance but did not make anything of it. We were looking at the scenery and started taking videos, thinking it was part of the view,” recalled Sathiya Jayaraman, a 58-year-old government schoolteacher from Kundrathur near Chennai, to TNIE. The widow was part of a group in one of the three mini buses carrying the 57 pilgrims.
Soon after, the storm developed into a rolling mass of boulders and debris. People from other vehicles around me started getting down and ran. A few minutes later, local police asked everyone to evacuate immediately, she added. By then, they could see the flood approaching.
“Some of the vehicles, including an overturned one, around our bus acted as a shield, so we had time to get out. All of us in the bus started to get down through the driver’s door as it was close to a hilly ridge that we assumed was safe. We left all our belongings, including cash and passports, behind. Some of us climbed a tree to stay safe,” Sathiya said.
My first step out was into sludge up to the ankle, she said. I waded through it to reach the ridge. Then, using a woman’s saree, several of them made it to the top of the ridge. For some, the saree had to be tied to their hips and pulled up, she added.
“The floodwater gushed underneath, making a sound that I cannot describe and that I will not forget,” Sathiya said.
At the top of the ridge, we found a police camp where they stayed overnight. On Thursday morning, we started on foot to another camp which had a helicopter, she added.
“It was a three-hour walk from the police camp to the helipad. Some of us, including me, crawled as we could barely walk any longer,” Sathiya said.
On reaching the camp, they were taken to Kathmandu with two brief stops en route. Indian embassy officials then took them to a hotel, where they ate and slept. Since all of them had lost their documents, the process of flying them back to India took longer. On Friday afternoon, they left Kathmandu for India.
