Kolkata: For the families of 32 Bengal travellers caught in Nepal’s flash-flood disaster, the Ho Chi Minh Sarani office of Cholo Jai Travel Club has become a centre of hope, anxiety and frantic rescue efforts. The Kolkata-based travel agency, which took a group of 30 tourists and two tour managers on a 13-day Kailash-Manasarovar trip, has kept its office open round-the-clock since Wednesday.
More than 1,000 people have been reported missing in China and Nepal. It is best to put up at Kathmandu to get information,” said Basu, a former journalist who founded the agency in 2002. They had left Kolkata on Aug 21 and were scheduled to return on Sept 3.
Employees have been working overtime, attending calls and visits from anxious family members after communication with the group was abruptly lost following the flash flood. All communication was lost with the tourists.
“I was shocked to see visuals of the building being swept,” Basu said. There has been no news yet,” said Manish Singh, an associate at the agency’s city office. Family members of the missing tourists and the staff of the travel agency have been desperately trying to re-establish contact. But there has been no success achieved so far. Samrat Tours & Travels, the agency’s Nepal-based partner, has deployed a private helicopter to search the flood-hit area. The tourists, however, could not be located. The travel agency has sent four staff members to Kathmandu to liaise with employees of Samrat Tours & Travels. “We can’t proceed to the disaster site, beyond Kathmandu. This year, these tourists were among the first batches to get permission for the pilgrimage to Kailash-Manasarovar in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Their journey ended abruptly in Rasuwa, north of Kathmandu and close to the Tibetan border, when the Bhote Koshi river was hit by a flash flood. They were preparing to complete immigration formalities and cross into Tibet when the disaster struck. “We are in contact with the embassy. The agency has also been in constant touch with the Indian embassy and the tourists’ families. Efforts are underway to bring the stranded Bengal tourists home. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Kolkata | Silver Rate in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata | Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Petrol Price in Kolkata | Diesel Price in Kolkata | CNG Price in Kolkata | LPG Price in Kolkata