New Delhi: Thirty-three Indian workers associated with Nepal’s Trishuli-1 hydropower project have been rescued following the floods that hit parts of the country, while contact has still not been established with 290 people, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday (August 27).
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the 33 workers were safely rescued by around 7 pm on Thursday. Earlier, Jaiswal had said that 21 Indians stranded in Nepal during the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage had also been rescued. Among the Indians who are still unreachable are people working on the Trishuli-1 power project.
He also shared the names of those who had been brought to safety in a post on X. The latest update comes as search and rescue teams continue to look for people affected by the floods and landslides in northern Nepal.
Jaiswal had earlier said that contact had not been established with 288 Indians, including 73 people working on the Trishuli-1 project. The latest government update puts the overall number of people who cannot be contacted at 290. He was part of a group of 10 Indian-origin Americans travelling towards Kailash Mansarovar when the floods struck. The 52-year-old has lived in the United States for the past 11 years. She learnt about the disaster at around 7 am Nepal time on Wednesday. J A Chowdary, who served as the IT adviser to former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu between 2014 and 2019, said the other members of the group were also IT professionals. The Nepal Tourism Board has said that 540 foreign nationals from 31 countries are missing following the floods. The Nepal Police said the death toll from the floods had risen to 389. Prime Minister Balen Shah said rescue workers had so far brought around 600 people to safety. The police had earlier said that 359 bodies had been recovered after Wednesday’s floods, while around 1,000 people were still missing. The rescue of 33 Trishuli-1 workers has brought some relief to their families, while authorities are still checking on hundreds of people. Earlier reporting noted: From Tamil Nadu to West Bengal, appeals for contact as Nepal floods cut off 290 Indians As many as 290 Indians remain unreachable in flood-hit Nepal, the ministry of external affairs ( MEA ) said on Thursday. Issued at 8 pm on Thursday, 84 Indians were rescued, which included 63 workers of the Trishuli-I project and 21 people from Tamil Nadu who had travelled to Nepal for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra , according to the MEA’s latest update. Earlier reporting noted: As many as 83 pilgrims, mostly women, from Tamil Nadu , and three from Puducherry remained unreachable in Nepal on Thursday, said Tamil Nadu minister A Rajmohan. Earlier reporting noted: In an announcement made in the state assembly, Rajmohan said overall 106 pilgrims, including three from Puducherry, had gone to Nepal under the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra in multiple groups.
Because another flood is possible in the Rasuwa area, authorities in Nepal have warned people living downstream of the Bhotekoshi River to take extra care. Families in India and abroad are waiting for updates on relatives who lost contact after the disaster as authorities gather information from affected areas.
His wife, Sushila Gopisetti, told BBC News Hindi from Washington that the trip was a private journey and that he had travelled with friends. He had gone to Kailash Mansarovar with his friends,” she said. She said she had spoken to her husband before he began the journey. She said the family was worried, adding, “Yes, the children are also stressed. “All the other members of the group are also IT professionals,” he said. Describing him as a good and courteous person, he said he had known him through professional circles. Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said the highest number of bodies had been recovered in Chitwan. “Currently, 86 of them could not be traced due to the flash floods in Nepal,” he said.
One of those whose whereabouts are still unknown is Lakshminath Gopisetti, president of public services at Infosys in the United States. “It was not an official trip. Gopisetti’s brother and Sushila’s brother both live in Hyderabad. Chowdary added that he had not worked with Gopisetti, although he had been with Infosys in Hyderabad before moving to the United States. The Water and Water Resources Research Centre has advised residents, travellers and rescue workers in the lower areas of the Bhotekoshi to stay away from riverbanks and other vulnerable locations until further notice. Satellite images and an initial assessment received from China show that a lake has formed near the area believed to be the source of Wednesday’s flood. Authorities have warned that the lake could burst if the water level rises. Such an event could send another surge of water downstream, putting settlements and people working in the area at risk. The centre has asked local residents, travellers, rescue personnel deployed in the lower Bhotekoshi area and others involved in relief operations to exercise special caution. People have also been advised to avoid areas close to the river and take the possibility of another flood seriously. The warning comes as rescue teams continue dealing with the aftermath of the flooding. The Bhotekoshi and Trishuli river systems have been badly affected, with several areas in northern Nepal reporting deaths, missing people and damage to homes and infrastructure. Nepal’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has appealed to people not to broadcast sensitive pictures, videos or audio recordings from flood-hit areas. The ministry has also asked people not to circulate any unverified information about the disaster. Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has set up an emergency team to deal with the situation involving foreign nationals. The team will coordinate efforts to locate and rescue foreign citizens affected by the disaster and provide consular assistance where needed.
Indian nationals form the largest group, with 178 people reported missing. The next highest numbers are from the United States with 65, Ukraine with 53, Malaysia with 51, Australia with 35 and the United Kingdom with 33. The board also said 31 foreign nationals from different countries were rescued from affected areas on Thursday.
