The Telangana government has said that several NRIs from the state are among those caught up in the sudden and devastating floods that struck Nepal. Preliminary information indicates that around 23 NRIs, holding citizenship of the United States and other countries, are believed to be stranded in the flood-hit region. Government sources said that details of the affected NRIs have already been forwarded to the Union Ministry of External Affairs.
Officials said many of those stranded were part of a group travelling to or returning from the Manasarovar Yatra via Nepal and Tibet, undertaken with the support of travel and tourism agencies including Isha Foundation, Isha Group, Kailash Journey Private Limited, and Touch Kailash. According to records maintained by the state and central governments, the group had set out on the pilgrimage from Hyderabad and other parts of the state. Of those stranded, 14 hold American citizenship, while one person each holds citizenship of New Zealand, Australia, and Canada. Officials at Telangana Bhavan in Delhi said that, so far, only one person has been confirmed safe, while details of the rest are still awaited.
Officials also released the names of some of those from Hyderabad, Telangana, who had undertaken the yatra. Among the American citizens are Vandana Chand, Shweta Putta, Sai Prasad Somayajulu, Lakshminath Gopishetty, Sudhindra Yapalparvi, Sudheer Rangu, Keshav Rao Tadipatri, Vivek Shankar Srivastava, Venkataramana, Balasubrahmanyam, Venkatakrishna, Raghunath Rao, and Kriti Kumar Acharya. Also among those stranded are Agastya Gopikrishna Naidu (Australia), Vinay Kumar Reddy (Canada), and Suhasini Reddy Kandimalla (New Zealand), along with Gayatri Bharat of Sharma Travels Kailas and Nagajyothi Lolla, among others.
With details of several others still awaited, the Telangana government has set up control rooms to help trace those stranded in Nepal. Officials said family members of those caught up in the disaster can contact the control rooms to share and obtain information. The numbers to be contacted at the state secretariat are: S. Lakshminarayana (Assistant Secretary) – 98853 71189, K. Srinivas Reddy (Section Officer) – 79979 59754, and E. Chittibabu (Section Officer) – 94408 54433. The helpline numbers at Telangana Bhavan in Delhi are 98719 99044, 99493 51270, and 96185 97969.