AP In Dramatic Rescue Of Telugus From Nepal

Hyderabad:The evacuation of Telugu tourists stranded in civil unrest-hit Nepal had all the ingredients of Hollywood and Bollywood thrillers, including immigration authorities stopping them at the last minute at the Kathmandu airport, refusing to allow them to board the aircraft that was waiting to airlift them to the port city of Visakhapatnam.

The immigration authorities stopped them as many of the tourists weren’t carrying their passports. These travellers had entered Nepal by bus, where carrying the passport is not needed and the Aadhaar card suffices as identify proof. Some others had lost their passports while fleeing the unrest.

As soon as the issue was flagged at the RTGS command centre in Amaravati, IT & education minister Nara Lokesh, who has been monitoring the rescue operations for the last 24 hours, called the Delhi monitoring team comprising Srikanth Arja, special commissioner, AP Bhavan, and Rajya Sabha member Sana Satish Babu.

Arja, who had a successful stint in Central tourism agencies before he retired and developed a network, immediately contacted the Indian embassy in Kathmandu and convinced them to put a word to the Nepal immigration authorities at the airport. A list of passengers was prepared and sent to the embassy as well as the immigration office in Nepal besides the airport. The immigration officials verified the identity cards and finally allowed the anxious tourists to board the aircraft.

Contrary to general protocol, Lokesh and his team directly tapped their respective contacts in the business and military sectors to expedite the airlifting of tourists.

For instance, a 14-seater small plane was arranged to bring 12 pilgrims stranded in Pokhara in the interior of Nepal to Kathmandu where a chartered flight was kept ready to bring all passengers to Visakhapatnam. The military airstrip was opened in Pokhara by convincing local military officials through common friends..

“It was running against time and we somehow pulled it off,” said Satish Babu.

As the news of the Telugu pilgrims’ airlift spread, the control room started getting calls from others from India, including non-Telugus, who were stranded in Nepal. About 50 pilgrims from Kurnool and Kadapa who were returning from the Manasarovar Yatra got in touch with the control room seeking help, while another group which included the daughter of Dhone MLA Kotla Suryaprakash Reddy, could not be contacted as there were no signals.