The Assam state government reported on Friday that ten individuals from the region are missing following severe floods in Nepal. Among those unaccounted for are two residents who had traveled to Nepal in search of employment at a hydropower project. The floods struck Nepal two days ago, leading to widespread devastation and raising concerns for those who may have been caught in the disaster.
They include two persons from Nalbari district, three each from Kamrup (Metropolitan) and Karbi Anglong districts, and one each from Golaghat and Hojai districts. Among them are Rituparna Brahma and Mantri Basumatary, both from Langhin in Karbi Anglong district, who had travelled to Nepal two weeks ago in search of work at the hydropower project on the Trishuli River, which was among the affected sites. Shatadal Nath from Doboka in Hojai district, who went to Nepal eight months ago to work at the same project on the Trishuli River, is also missing.
There has been no contact with the 10 people since Wednesday, when the floods struck the Bhote Koshi River and affected several areas, including a hydropower project where more than 400 workers were reportedly trapped, according to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA).
“My son called me on Tuesday. I request the state government to locate my son and bring him back,” Nath’s mother said on Friday. After that there has been no contact with him. Retired professor of Gauhati University Dipali Sarkar and her husband, Manash Kumar Ghosh, both from Guwahati in Kamrup (Metropolitan) district, are among those missing. Sarkar, a former head of the physics department of the university, and her husband had booked a trip to Kailash Mansarovar through a travel agency based in Kolkata. A professor from the pathology department of Nalbari Medical College and Hospital, Tirtha Chaliha, is also among those missing. Details of when she went to Nepal or for what reasons are not known yet. The other missing persons are Arun Mahanta from Nalbari district, Pankaj Naug from Guwahati, Rahul Daimary from Golaghat and Soneshwar Narzary from Karbi Anglong.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday that the state government was making all possible efforts to ensure the safe return of all persons from the state who are stranded in Nepal due to the floods.
