Locals feeding us, says TN pilgrim - 158 yatris evacuated from Simikot

Rammohan B, 63, a former chief ticket inspector with the Railways, had been stranded in Simikot since Friday evening. “I left Chennai on June 21 and performed the pilgrimage. 

When I reached Simikot on Friday evening (June 29), there were people waiting before me, as flights had not been operating for the last few days because of the weather. 

Most of us are senior citizens. While the hotels are providing us food, the locals are helping the stranded pilgrims by cooking food and ensuring that we are comfortable. 

However, beyond this, little has changed as we are awaiting the 30-minute flight to take us to Nepalgunj, which has a three-hour road connectivity to Lucknow. 

The Indian Embassy has organised a medical checkup for all the stranded pilgrims,” said the Perambur resident, who hopes to reach New Delhi as soon as possible to join his friends for the Amarnath Yatra — a pilgrimage that he has been making for 20 years now. 

The Embassy in Kathmandu has evacuated 158 pilgrims from Simikot to Nepalganj in 10 commercial flights, in joint efforts with flight operators and the airport authority. 

The Embassy is in touch with Nepal Army, which has kept a helicopter on standby. Pranav Ganesh, First Secretary, said, “There are 629 pilgrims stranded in Simikot and 451 in Hilsa. 

Our representatives are doing the rounds to ascertain any medical complications and no such instances have been reported. Indications suggest that Wednesday’s weather could be conducive for further evacuation operations.”

The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday said it has set up a control room in New Delhi to provide logistic support for pilgrims of Kailash Mansarovar yatra from the state stranded in Nepal. The control room, manned by five officials, will be functioning in the Tamil Nadu House and can be reached at 01121610285 and 011-21610286.

A 69-year old resident of Andipatti in Theni district, who had gone on pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar in Nepal, allegedly died due to illness on Monday. The pilgrim C Ramachandran died due to suffocation, sources said.

While scores of pilgrims who were undertaking the yatra from various parts of India and 23 pilgrims from Tamil Nadu were said to have been stranded in Nepal due to inclement weather, the death of Ramachandran, a retired Headmaster of the Government Kallar School, came as a shock. The grief-stricken relatives of Ramachandran on Tuesday met Theni Collector M Pallavi Baldev and submitted a petition seeking to bring Ramachandran’s body back at the earliest. Ramachandran along with his wife and four other pilgrims in the district had left for the pilgrimage on June 18, the Collector said. 

Pallavi Baldev, after conducting preliminary inquiry into the incident, told DTNext that Ramachandran who breathed his last at 8.30 am, did not make the pilgrimage since he was unwell. It was a natural death, which occurred at the place where he was accommodated. The body has been kept in Kathmandu and efforts were being made through the state government and the Indian Embassy in Nepal to bring it back. The family may receive the body on Wednesday evening. The state government is coordinating efforts with the Principal Resident Commissioner in New Delhi to bring back the body soon.