Maharashtra government is making all-out efforts to ensure the safe return of tourists from the state stranded in the violence-ravaged Nepal, said Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday, reported the PTI.
The state government is in constant touch with the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu through the Ministry of External Affairs and the Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi to provide necessary assistance to the stranded travellers and ensure their safe return, Ajit Pawar said in a statement.
“Our top priority is to bring every tourist from Maharashtra back home safely and to reassure their families. There is no need for anyone to panic,” he said, according to the PTI.
According to preliminary information, around 100 tourists from Thane, Pune, Mumbai, Latur and Kolhapur districts are currently stranded in Nepal. A group of tourists from Beed district reportedly left the Himalayan nation by road in private vehicles and has reached Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh.
The largest group of stranded tourists is from Murbad in Thane district, Pawar said, adding all travellers from Maharashtra in Nepal are safe and are being contacted directly by the state government for assistance.
As many as 112 tourists from Murbad taluka in Thane district of Maharashtra are reportedly trapped in violence-hit Kathmandu and Pokhara cities in Nepal, reported the PTI.
The group has appealed to the Maharashtra government to ensure the safe evacuation, said Murbad MLA Kisan Kathore.
“47 of these tourists are currently sheltered in a hotel in Kathmandu, where the most intense riots have taken place. The remaining 65 are located in a hotel in Pokhara, according to the PTI.
“We have spoken to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the Thane district collector regarding the safe return of these 112 tourists,” he said in a statement on Wednesday, as per the PTI.
In a call with Kathore, the stranded tourists described the terrifying situation on the ground and requested to be brought home as soon as possible. The increasing violence and the uncertainty of the situation have left the stranded group feeling vulnerable and anxious.
Nepal continued to reel under a serious political crisis on Tuesday as Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigned in the face of massive protests for a second day, with the demonstrators storming many government buildings and setting the parliament as well as homes of several high-profile leaders ablaze, a day after 19 people died in violence, the news agency reported.
(with PTI inputs)
