102 Nagpur pilgrims stranded in Kathmandu after floods return home safely

Nagpur: As many as 102 pilgrims from Nagpur who were stranded in Kathmandu following devastating flash floods safely returned to the city in Maharashtra on Sunday morning, officials said. The 102 pilgrims, along with four others from different parts of the Vidarbha region, had travelled to Nepal on August 19 to visit the Pashupatinath temple and other pilgrimage sites. They stayed in Kathmandu until August 27, a day after flash floods struck the Nepal-Tibet border. While four pilgrims from Vidarbha reached by flight on Saturday, the other 102 reached Nagpur Railway Station by train around 4.30 am on Sunday. Nagpur's BJP president Dayashankar Tiwari was present at the station to receive them. Speaking to PTI, pilgrim Yogesh Gawande said they were fortunate to have returned to India amidst the tragedy, which has claimed at least 675 lives and left nearly 2,400 missing. Another pilgrim thanked Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for facilitating their return to Nagpur. According to the Maharashtra Chief Minister's Office, Fadnavis was in constant touch with Nepal's Member of Parliament Sandeep Rana to discuss arrangements needed for their safe return. Giving details of their journey back, another pilgrim told PTI that they took a bus from Kathmandu to Janakpur in Bihar on August 28 and reached Danapur the following day. From Danapur, they travelled to Patna, where they boarded a train for Nagpur, the pilgrim said. Pandit Sridhar Tripathi, who was leading the pilgrim group, said that one of the travellers, Nirmala Pandey (72), is hospitalised in Kathmandu after she suffered a heart attack. Tripathi said her son from Nagpur had reached Kathmandu and was tending to her. On Saturday morning, four pilgrims from Vidarbha, including three women, returned safely to Nagpur, bringing immense relief to their families. The four – Indira Chaudhary (65), Sulochna Khapre of Wardha, and Deepak Pande and Varsha Upadhyay of Hinganghat – were part of a group of pilgrims from Vidarbha who had travelled to Nepal to visit the Pashupatinath temple. They returned to Delhi from Kathmandu by flight on August 28, and from there they came to Nagpur by the Kerala Express on Saturday morning.