Almost all stranded Indian pilgrims evacuated in Nepal

The extensive operation to rescue and evacuate the stranded Indians returning from Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in Nepal was almost over on Friday.

The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu said "after humanitarian situation arising out of more than 1,500 Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims stranded in Hilsa and Simikot in Nepal, the Embassy of India in Kathmandu swiftly mounted rescue operations since July 2, 2018 to help facilitate evacuation of the stranded pilgrims to safer locations in Nepal."

On Friday alone, according to the Embassy, another lot of regular Indian pilgrims arrived in Hilsa and Simikot who will follow the normal course of returning to India. A total 13 pilgrims have arrived in Simikot, the district headquarters of Humla, and 12 in Hilsa, near Nepal-China border.

These new batches of pilgrims do not need evacuation and will follow the normal procedure, said the officials.

According to media reports in Kathmandu, lots of Indian pilgrims have complained that they faced trouble on the Tibetan side after crossing Nepal border.

During the rescue operation, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu had deployed its officials and representatives with medicines in all the affected areas to provide possible assistance to the stranded pilgrims.

An Emergency Control Room, with contact numbers of embassy Officials, has also been functioning since Monday to cater to the needs of the pilgrims and their family members.

During the evacuation process, 74 commercial flights were operated and the embassy additionally pressed into service private choppers MI-16 along with Nepal Army helicopters that made more than 142 sorties in the difficult terrain of the Hilsa-Simikot-Nepalgunj sectors.

--IANS

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