New Delhi: For years, Vandana Chand had dreamed of seeing the majestic snow-capped Kailash mountains.
So, when Chand, a solo traveller, landed in India from Virginia, she was excited she was finally close to realising her dream.
On Wednesday, the US citizen who grew up in Hyderabad called her family to say she was at the Chinese immigration office along with other pilgrims from her Isha Foundation group on their way to Kailash Mansarovar.
“Around 8 am, she told us that she had reached the Chinese immigration centre and was completing all the formalities along with her co-travellers of the S-3 group with Isha Foundation,” said Nitin Singh, her brother-in-law.
It was the last time the family heard from her, he said. Since then, they have been desperately trying to reach her but haven’t had any success.
“Ever since social media has been flooded with videos of the deadly floods in Nepal, we have been trying to reach her, but to no avail. We have contacted all the embassies and Isha Foundation but have not heard back either,” he said.
Chand is one of many missing Indian tourists on their way to Kailash Mansarovar whose families have been desperately waiting to hear from them since the devastating floods in Nepal.
Most of them say the last time they had any contact was when they were at the immigration centre.
With social media full of terrifying footage of the flood waters gushing down ferociously, sweeping entire buildings and bridges in their path, most anxious families have been trying repeatedly to reach their loved ones—but with little success.
The news so far has been far from reassuring. Nepali Police said Friday the death toll has risen to 469 two days after flash floods devastated the Himalayan nation, wreaking havoc across several towns and villages, washing away critical bridges and crippling a dozen hydropower projects.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has put the number of Indians missing at 290, with 63 Indian nationals working at the Trishuli-I project and 21 individuals from Tamil Nadu rescued so far.
Rescue teams using heavy machinery are digging through mud and debris in Nepalese towns devastated by the flash flood, while several remain missing on the Tibetan side of the border as well.
Chinese authorities are conducting aerial surveys and 3D modelling to cut the risk of a barrier lake burst that threatens to induce more flooding at the disaster-stricken border crossing linking Tibet to Nepal.
Clinging to hope
For families back home, the uncertainty is agonising. But they are clinging to hope.
In Chennai, Natarajan was grappling with the anxiety of not knowing the whereabouts of his two brothers and their wives.
“We have not received any information from either them or the embassies,” he said.
Sankar Venkatachalam (63), Venkatachalam Balaji (61), Srividya Shankar (60), Balaji Deepa (54) and Radhakrishnan Anitha (53), had all left for the Kailash Mansarovar yatra together with Richa Treks, he said.
“This was their dream trip that they had planned for over a month. They were afraid of their health but took up the challenge, despite that,” he said.
The two couples and their friend had been posting several photographs on their social media and family WhatsApp groups.
“Now we have just a photograph of theirs in front of the Pashupatinath temple and no information about their whereabouts,” he added.
Natarjan told ThePrint that they had not begun looking out for them until Thursday morning. “We initially thought they were out of network coverage. Then when we received no update till morning, we began to panic.”
Meanwhile, a tour and travel agency in Kolkata has said that it has lost touch with at least 30 travellers who were on their way to Mansarovar.
“On 26th August at around 7.47 am, our group, comprising 30 guests, 2 tour leaders, and 5 local Sherpas, completed immigration formalities at the Nepal border at Upper Timure and proceeded towards the China Immigration Office,” Chalo Jai travels agency said on Facebook.
“Unfortunately, the group became stranded there, coinciding with the unfortunate incident that occurred in the area. Since then, we have been unable to establish contact with any of the group members,” it added.
It also said that around 2 pm, they had organised a helicopter to conduct a search operation. “However, due to the difficult terrain and the lack of a suitable landing area, it was unable to land at the location.”
Gunja Mukherjee told ThePrint that her sister Rina Banerjee (54), a private tuition teacher in Kolkata, had been planning this trip for the past 6-7 years, but each year it was postponed for some reason or other.
“This was the first time she could dedicate time for the trip and no difficulties came her way, until this calamity,” Gunja said. The family last spoke to Rina over the phone Monday night.
“Around 11.30 pm she called to inform us that she was in Kathmandu and would leave for Mansarovar on Tuesday morning,” said Gunja. She has not heard from her sister since Monday night.
When the phone rang on Tuesday she hoped it would be her sister, but it was the local police instead. “The police told me the travel agency my sister was travelling with has informed them that they have been unable to contact the group and that things don’t look good at the moment,” she said.
Gunja has made several trips to Nabanna, the state secretariat, to get updates about her sister.
Also among those missing is Vivek Srivastava, an Indian origin man with a US passport, who had gone for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra with 10 others. “Last time we heard from Vivek was when he was in the immigration area, and later we received the Nepalese data showing that he and others in his groups had their visas stamped at 8.30 am after which they moved beyond the gate. There is nothing more that I know,” said his cousin Gaurav Khare.
The Kailash Mansarovar yatra was resumed in June after about five years. It was suspended in 2020 after the COVID-19 lockdown and then was not resumed with violent clashes between the Indian army and the People’s Liberation Army at Galwan Valley along the Line of Actual Control and stand-offs at other points such as Demchok, about 250 km from Kailash Mansarovar.
The yatra, held between June and August each year, was resumed after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2024.
Delhi and Beijing began discussions on normalising relations and restoring a number of different mechanisms between them.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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