Basirhat couple back from Nepal
Kolkata: A Nepal police warning and a local driver who turned the vehicle around saved 64-year-old retired schoolteacher Anukul Poddar and his wife Reba Ray Poddar, residents of Basirhat, who were about an hour-and-a-half away from the Nepal-China (Tibet) border where disaster struck. The couple arrived at Howrah station aboard the Mithila Express from Raxaul at 4.30 am on Sunday. They reached home in a police vehicle at 7 am. The Poddars had left for the trip with Kolkata-based travel agency Kundu Tirtha Bhraman on Aug 21. On Aug 26, the group left Kathmandu in two vehicles — one carrying Bengali tourists and the other carrying families from southern India. The group had left their hotel at 6.30 am.
Had we reached the border earlier, we might have been buried beneath the mud,” he said. Only later did we realise it was water,” Reba said. We have no news about them and remain worried,” Poddar said.
However, the couple is yet to overcome the horror of the ordeal. “Our driver turned the car around and drove back towards Kathmandu. When we reached our hotel, we learnt how narrowly we had escaped. A Basirhat police team led by OC Mohammad Firoz Ali, along with the couple’s son, daughter-in-law, and family members, received them. They were an hour-and-a-half from the affected area when the tour manager received news of the disaster. “At first, our driver noticed something coming down the distant mountains that looked like white smoke. Poddar remains concerned about those still missing, including his former colleague from Basirhat Town School, Swapan Mondal, and his wife Mou, residents of Khan Bahadur Road. “We are praying that they return home safely, just as we did. As the couple arrived at their Basirhat home, neighbours and Basirhat District police personnel gathered to welcome them.
Their hours of anxiety and uncertainty ended on Sunday morning when the couple returned home.