But for a tea break, five friends from Chhattisgarh could have been swept away in the flash floods that devastated Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river valleys in Nepal on Wednesday.
They survived, but then had to spend two anxious days watching the fury of the swollen Trishuli river from an elevated spot. They had hired a car and were planning to visit the Pashupatinath Temple, Manokamana Temple and other tourist attractions, . “There we learnt that a bridge ahead had been washed away in a flood. The friends became eyewitness to an unfolding disaster. “We saw cars being swept away in the Trishuli river. Bodies and a lot of other things were also being carried away by the current. We were scared. The group took shelter at a higher spot at Malekhu and spent the night in their car. Local residents and authorities helped them. “While having tea at the hotel, we noticed people suddenly becoming restive. Later, we learnt about the devastation caused by the flood. They later visited the bank of the Trishuli river to see the situation for themselves. Amid the tragedy, the five friends shared a tender moment when local women security personnel tied rakhis on their wrists. “We were supposed to return from the trip after the Rakhi festival, so our sisters had already given us rakhis. The women security personnel deployed there tied these rakhis on our wrists. “We will never be able to forget what we saw. “We slept in our car, but we could not really sleep.
Narayan Sen, Dinesh Ojha, Prem Singh Jagat, Yatendra Prakash and Dinesh Singh Thakur, all aged between 50 and 60 years and residents of Mana Camp area in Raipur, returned home on Saturday. The group had left Raipur on August 21 and reached Nepal the following day. At around 9.30-10 am on August 26, they stopped for tea at a hotel in Malekhu town of Dhading district. Thakur (55), a police head constable, said they were around 50 km from Pashupatinath Temple when the flood struck. The friends finally left Nepal on August 28.
“Had we not stopped there, we do not know what would have happened,” he said. The hotel belonged to an Indian, who helped us a lot and provided us food,” Sen said. There was always a fear that the flood situation might worsen,” Sen said. We heard that entire villages, buildings, offices and hydropower projects had been devastated,” he said. “What we saw is very difficult to describe in words,” said Thakur. “We kept chanting Lord Shiva’s name, and we feel his blessings protected us,” he added. “Internet service was working well there, so we remained in contact with our families and did not panic,” Thakur said. That was the most comforting moment,” Thakur said. Dinesh Ojha, who runs a tailoring shop, said the scenes they witnessed after the flood would stay with them forever. Many people were desperately searching for their missing family members,” he said. There was always the fear that another flood might come,” Ojha said. “We are happy that finally we have reached back home,” he added. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
They had hired a car and were planning to visit the Pashupatinath Temple, Manokamana Temple and other tourist attractions. “We were lucky that we stopped for tea on August 26 when the flash floods struck. If we had left 10-15 minutes earlier, we might have got trapped,” Narayan Sen (53) who runs a salon, told PTI Videos. Earlier reporting noted: Narayan Sen, Dinesh Ojha, Prem Singh Jagat, Yatendra Prakash and Dinesh Singh Thakur, all aged between 50 and 60 years and residents of Mana Camp area in Raipur, returned home on Saturday. Earlier reporting noted: The group left Raipur on August 21 and reached Nepal the following day. Earlier reporting noted: At around 9.30-10 am on August 26, they stopped for tea at a hotel in Malekhu town of Dhading district.
Thakur praised the local administration and police. “There was no electricity and water, but the administration and police helped us. The group remained in touch with their families through the internet, and used the helpline provided by the Indian government to share their location.
They told us that we were at a higher place and should not worry,” he said.
