Anxious relatives in Tiruchi, Thanjavaur wait for news about Nepal flood survivors

The family members of travellers from Tiruchi and Thanjavur districts, affected by the flash floods triggered by a landslide in Nepal on August 26, waited anxiously for news about the survivors on Thursday. (August 27, 2026).According to information disclosed by the local authorities, three women from Tiruchi and 16 persons from Thanjavur were among those who were affected by the floods. The family members of 16 tourists from Thanjavur district were in the dark about the condition of their dear ones.“We have formed a WhatsApp group to communicate with the family members of the 16 persons from Thanjavur district, and are doing our best to provide updates. We are hopeful of the safe return of all the visitors,” Thanjavur Collector R. Revathi told The Hindu on Thursday.Tiruchi residents Sivaranjani Muthunathan, Vallinayaki Sivakumar, and Karpagam Rajamohan were among the 20 Tamils rescued in Nepal. Lok Sabha Member Durai Vaiko wrote to Minister for External Affairs S. Jaishankar on Thursday, requesting for “immediate intervention” to expedite the efforts to evacuate the Indian survivors.“While I am relieved that three people from my Tiruchi Parliamentary Constituency have been rescued safely, I request your urgent intervention to ensure that all are provided the necessary assistance and are safely brought back to India at the earliest,” Mr. Durai Vaiko said in the letter.Relief for someK. Muthunathan, Additional General Manager, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Tiruchi, was relieved to know that his wife Sivaranjani, 46, managed to reach the base camp and would be evacuated with the other survivors to Kathmandu. “Since the damage is very heavy, we are not sure of how long it will take for my wife and her friends to return. We hope they will be back soon,” he said.What was supposed to be a much-anticipated visit to Mount Kailash, organised by a Kumbakonam-based travel agency, became an unexpected situation overnight for Tiruchi-based Vallinayaki Sivakumar.“My sister-in-law Vallinayaki, 61, was part of a group of 57 pilgrims headed for Mount Kailash. The group was proceeding in a convoy of three buses along the Nepal-China border, when the landslide struck. When the floods came in, the bus in front and the one at the back were washed away. But her bus and the 20 people in it had a miraculous escape,” said her relative. “The group scrambled to a high rock on Wednesday, after which they were airlifted on Thursday morning. My sister-in-law sent text messages first, and on Thursday, called us,” he added.Karpagam Rajamohan, 62, also survived the flood, confirmed her spouse.Wait continuesThe family members of Ramesh Palanisamy, 69, former executive of the Kumbakonam Mutual Benefit Fund, were following the news on television hoping to get some information about him. “We have called relatives in Delhi to help us trace his whereabouts,” Mr. Palanisamy’s sister Latha said at Chettimandapam in Kumbakonam taluk. “The uncertainty is agonising.”“My mother Sivayogam was a devotee of Lord Siva, and a frequent traveller to places of worship. She has done the pilgrimage to Mount Kailash before and returned home safely. I hope Amma and her friends are safe; my brother and I and our families are all eagerly waiting for her to call us. I still remember her last call to me from Nepal,” said a tearful Anita Saravanan in Thanjavur.Tour agency operator Syed Sadique said the whereabouts of his son, Umar Syed Farooq, who accompanied the group as the manager, was not known.Number of pilgrims being determinedThe Coimbatore administration has been coordinating with the Indian embassies in Nepal and China to determine the number of pilgrims who had gone missing or got stranded in the flash flood. According to information provided by a Chennai-based travel agency to the district authorities, four men and four women had gone missing. The travel agency had also mentioned the addresses of the missing persons. The Disaster Management Section of the Coimbatore district administration is verifying the details, an official said.The exact number of pilgrims from Coimbatore could not be determined as yet because more information from other travel agencies was expected to trickle in, the official said.A group of 80 pilgrims from Isha Foundation, Coimbatore, all nationals of other countries, had gone missing. The Isha Foundation has reached out to the embassies for authoritative information about the missing members. In a video message from the Tibetan side of the Chinese border, founder of Isha Foundation Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev said the group, comprising 34 men and 46 women, was feared trapped in the floods.Since the roads and telecommunication services had been cut off, there was no information about the missing pilgrims: 22 from the U.S., 12 from Canada, 11 from Australia, nine from England, four from Germany, three each from France and Nepal, two each from the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, and Spain, and one each from Finland, Hungary, Israel, Lithuania, the Philippines, Portugal, Russia, and South Africa.