Even as governments and voluntary organisations rushed to the aid of people affected in Saturday’s earthquake in Nepal, many stranded Indians waited at the Kathmandu airport for return flights. Sathishkumar Elanthirayan, who spoke to The Hindu over phone on Sunday afternoon, said there was chaos at the airport.
“We have been waiting under the open sky since Saturday evening and there is no food or water here. A few of us made a head count and have tried to bring in a semblance of order. There have been several quakes even as we await flights and people are tensed,” he said. Mr. Elanthirayan, a tour operator from the city, who had taken 187 people to Nepal, remained in that country so that his guests could reach their destinations safely.
Adhikari, another tour operator from Chennai, who said his guests were safe, messaged saying landslips took place on their way to Pokhara where some of them are staying now. He and some of his guests were in a park at Kathmandu waiting for flights.
Mr. Adhikari messaged since network connectivity was poor. “NGOs are helping us with food and other things. Most roads that we took are alright except for cracks at few places,” he said. As on Sunday afternoon at least 54 people from Chennai and 17 from Coimbatore are still waiting in Pokhara.
Another tour operator, who left Nepal just before the quake, said his team had felt tremors at Siliguri. “Several senior citizens just sat down in the impact. It was God’s hand that helped us escape before the quake,” he said, adding that this was the peak of Nepal’s tourist and pilgrimage season and usually there were thousands of Indians in Nepal this time of the year.
