Nepal floods | ‘Saved by God’: 41 pilgrims return to Mumbai after days of uncertainty

For families who had spent the past two days waiting for a phone call, Saturday evening brought the first real relief. Forty-one pilgrims from Maharashtra and neighbouring states, stranded in Tibet and Nepal after completing the Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra amid flash floods that killed hundreds and disrupted travel across the region, arrived at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on Saturday.

“For the past 48 hours, I was in a constant state of worry and panic. But finally seeing my wife in person has put me at ease. I have nothing but gratitude for the state authorities and the External Affairs Ministry,” said Borivali resident Subodh Sathe, whose wife, Shama, was among those who returned.

For Sathe, the anxiety had begun with a delay that could have changed the course of his wife’s journey. Shama was spared the worst of the floods after an issue with a fellow passenger’s ticket delayed her travel, Subodh said.

Smita Pawar, Revenue Commissioner of the Pune division, was travelling with three family members when she and her sister-in-law, Yogini Patil, fell ill. With their oxygen levels dropping, Pawar developed hypoxia and her body began turning bluish-black.

“We were scheduled to cross the border on the same day the floods occurred, but had to go to the hospital instead,” Patil said. The group, led by Pramod Kene under the Jai Girnari Shivdutt Mandir Trust, included pilgrims from across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region as well as Pune and Karnataka.

The pilgrims were part of a larger group that had been stranded in Saga, Tibet, after completing the Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra earlier this week. Following intervention by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, they travelled to Kathmandu early Friday morning after crossing the Nyalam check-post.

Among those returning was 70-year-old Varsha Currey of Hubli, Karnataka. She had left for Nepal on August 16 and was stranded in Tibet when the floods struck. Her nephew, Jayesh Gor, said the family struggled to reach her after reports of the floods began circulating.

“We had been trying to reach my aunt since 11 am after reports of the floods started coming out. It wasn’t until hours later, at 3.30 pm, that we actually established some contact with her,” he said. Currey later messaged relatives to say that she was safe and had not been affected by the floods.

For some of the pilgrims, the ordeal has not shaken their faith. “It was an act of god, but we believe god saved us. Our faith hasn’t wavered one bit,” said 65-year-old Pune resident Hemlata Borse.