Tamil Nadu school education minister A Rajmohan said on Thursday that 103 Tamil pilgrims were

Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu school education minister A Rajmohan said on Thursday that 103 Tamil pilgrims were stranded in Nepal after the flash floods in Bhote Koshi river. Of these people, the whereabouts of 34 Tamils were not known, Rajmohan told the assembly. He said two batches of pilgrims from Tamil Nadu had visited Nepal — 54 people (along with three from Puducherry) were sent by a Kumbakonam-based travel agency and 49 by a Chennai-based agency. As many as 20 people managed to escape the floods and have reached a safe place. However, ministry of external affairs said 21 Tamils were rescued. As many as 937 calls have been received so far,’’ he told the assembly.

“Round-the-clock helplines have been launched for the families of the missing pilgrims.

Speaking on the issue in the assembly, Rajmohan said Tamil Nadu govt was in constant touch with Nepal authorities to rescue and send home the pilgrims from the state. “We are constantly monitoring the situation there,’’ he said. They have been rescued and are being moved to Kathmandu, he said. Rajmohan said there were updates coming from Nepal every hour and that the govt was closely collaborating with Nepal authorities. The govt said rehabilitation director R Satheesh will coordinate with ministry of external affairs and manage the logistics for the transport of rescued Tamils to their hometowns.

Chief minister C Joseph Vijay held an emergency meeting to discuss the Nepal situation and deputed Asish Kumar, resident commissioner of Tamil Nadu House in New Delhi to rush to Kathmandu to oversee the relief and rescue measures. Vijay has directed ministers Aadhav Arjuna, Rajmohan, K Thennarasu and R Vinoth to establish a command centre at Tamil Nadu House in New Delhi. The ministers will coordinate with the Union govt in carrying out the rescue work and facilitate safe and speedy return of the Tamils to the state. Chief secretary M Saikumar and DGP Mahesh Kumar Agarwal attended the review meeting to finalize evacuation protocols. Medical and psychological support teams have been deployed to receive the evacuees.

They sought details of govt measures to ensure the pilgrims’ safe return.

Earlier, leader of opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin, former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and legislators of different parties raised the Nepal situation through a call attention motion in the assembly.