Around 1500 Indian pilgrims were stranded in Nepal’s mountainous region on their way back from the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in Tibet earlier this month.
Sushma Swaraj (Photo: PIB/File)
All 115 Kailash Mansarovar Yatra pilgrims stranded in Uttarakhand’s Gunji have been evacuated brought to safety in Pithoragarh, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Tuesday.
The evacuation operation was conducted by the Indian Air Force (IAF) whose choppers airlifted the pilgrims, who were stranded in the high-altitude area due to inclement weather conditions.
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“I am happy to inform that all Kailash Mansarovar Yatris stranded at Gunji (Uttarakhand) have been evacuated and brought to Pithoragarh by IAF helicopters,” informed Swaraj on Twitter.
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“With this, normal movement of Yatris has recommenced,” she said.
On Monday, Swaraj had said that the stranded pilgrims were been looked after by personnel from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Kumaon Vikas Mandal.
“As weather conditions improve, they will be airlifted to Pithoragarh,” she had said on Monday.
It is for a second time that pilgrims got stranded in Pithoragarh due to bad weather this year.
Around 1500 Indian pilgrims were stranded in Nepal’s mountainous region on their way back from the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in Tibet earlier this month. A massive evacuation drive was launched to rescue them.
On 7 July, Indian Air Force evacuated the last batch of 160 pilgrims to safety from the Hilsa and Simikot districts of Nepal completing the evacuation of all 1430 pilgrims stranded in the mountainous region of the Himalayan nation.
Read More: Kailash Mansarovar yatra: All Indian pilgrims stranded in Nepal rescued
A humanitarian crisis in Nepal due to inclement weather conditions led to the launch of the 2 July rescue mission. The Indian mission in Nepal deployed officials and representatives with medical facilities in all the areas where pilgrims had become stranded to help the elderly and ailing pilgrims.
On the other hand, landslides triggered by heavy rain in many parts of Uttarakhand have led to the disruption of the pilgrimage and has left yatris stranded at various places.
The Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN), the nodal agency for the Yatra, had in a letter to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on 20 July asked the government not to send any fresh batch before those stranded proceed for their onward journey.
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