New Delhi/Bengaluru: At least 17 people from Karnataka remained untraced in flood- and landslide-devastated Nepal even as the state government stepped up efforts to trace Kannadigas stranded in the country, Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said on Thursday.
“We are tracing people…. many are not tracked. 17 persons’ information we need to get; it is not available,” Shivakumar told reporters in the national capital.
Shivakumar said several people from Karnataka had travelled to Nepal and that while the locations of some had been traced, the whereabouts of many others remained unknown.
“We are working 24×7. Specific details of certain persons are not available. Their details will be released soon. A few are in touch and are speaking to their families,” he said.
The Chief Minister said the Karnataka government was coordinating the rescue and evacuation efforts through Karnataka Bhavan in New Delhi and Bengaluru, while also remaining in touch with Union Ministers.
He said the state could not operate independently in a foreign country and would have to work in coordination with the authorities concerned to bring stranded Kannadigas back home.
“We will work in coordination. We will unitedly take up the work of bringing them back to the state,” Shivakumar said.
He added that the government had also spoken to the family of Mallinath, a resident of Kalaburagi district who survived the floods.
Shivakumar also spoke over the phone to Mallinath, who expressed his happiness at speaking to the Chief Minister and said he was an ardent devotee like Shivakumar.
Mallinath recalled his ordeal and said it was difficult to describe in words how he and others had survived.
“Sir, you can’t imagine. If we have survived and come back, we can’t explain it in words. Two buses that were ahead of us by 10 minutes are missing,” he told Shivakumar.
The Chief Minister asked whether any Karnataka residents were travelling in the two missing buses. Mallinath replied that all the tourists travelling in those buses were from West Bengal.
Shivakumar asked Mallinath whether he had come across any other Kannadigas after reaching Kathmandu. Mallinath said he had been staying in Kathmandu for three days but had not come into contact with anyone from Karnataka.
The Chief Minister advised Mallinath to remain safe and not take any hasty decisions.
Mallinath responded that he would follow the advice, recalling that he had narrowly escaped the disaster the previous day.
The conversation also touched upon their political differences, with Mallinath saying he admired Shivakumar’s approach even as he supported another political party. The Chief Minister, in turn, said that irrespective of political affiliations, everyone from Karnataka stood together as Kannadigas.
The Karnataka government has been working with central authorities and diplomatic channels to trace those who remain unaccounted for and facilitate the safe return of stranded residents, Shivakumar stated.
(IANS)
