CHENNAI: Of the 319 people from Tamil Nadu who travelled to Nepal and were caught in the flash floods, 219 who are in safe locations are expected to reach Chennai by midnight on Monday, School Education Minister A Rajmohan said late on Saturday. Around 100 others remain untraceable.
Speaking at Chennai airport after returning from New Delhi, where he was part of a four-minister team overseeing rescue efforts, Rajmohan said Non-Resident Tamils Welfare Minister K Thennarasu and officials were continuing to coordinate operations from the national capital. PWD Minister Aadhav Arjuna and Agriculture Minister R Vinoth have returned to Chennai.
Rajmohan said 57 people travelled through a Kumbakonam-based agency, of whom 21 reached Chennai on August 28. Efforts are on to trace the remaining 36.
Another 150 travelled through Aatma Yoga Maiam. They crossed into China and reached Kathmandu and are returning to India on different flights.
Of 39 people who travelled through Ideal Tours and Trekking, 33 are scheduled to reach Coimbatore airport at 6.30 am on Monday and six Chennai at 7.30 pm.
Rajmohan said 49 people who travelled through Mahadev Yatra remained untraceable. Another 15 were also untraceable, while five members of a nine-member group had reached Ayodhya and were expected in Chennai soon.
Maravel Nagappan, father of the founder of Mahadev Kailash Yatra in Chromepet, said families had received no information about the missing pilgrims. He said Chinese Army personnel could not reach the worst-affected area for nearly five hours and had been unable to resume rescue operations for two days as around 2.5 km was covered in nearly six feet of mud.
He said it was unclear whether those who escaped had reached nearby hills in China, which remained their “last hope” for survival.
Rajmohan said MLAs were in touch with the families and urged them not to lose hope.
Erode couple who went on Kailash Yatra untraceable, efforts are on, say officers
Erode: Officials of the Erode district administration said seven of the nine pilgrims from the district who went on the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra are safe in China, while no information is available about a couple. M Natarajan (67), a farmer from Kanagapuram village, and his wife Krishnaveni (56), who runs a hotel in Erode, left for the yatra on August 14 with relatives from Namakkal through a private agency based in Chennai. The couple spoke to their son Kavin over the phone on the morning of August 25. After learning about the flash floods in Nepal, Kavin tried contacting them on August 26 but could not reach them. He travelled from Erode to Bengaluru on August 27 and then proceeded to Kathmandu in search of his parents. A senior official said the administration was in constant contact with Kavin and was making efforts to trace the couple. ENS
