Evacuation plan ready to bring all Telugus stranded in Nepal back home, says Lokesh

The Andhra Pradesh government, in close coordination with the Centre, the Embassy of India in Kathmandu, and Nepalese authorities, is getting ready to bring back home the Telugus stranded in the strife-torn Nepal. A comprehensive plan for it has been prepared with support from Centre and the local authorities in Nepal.

“A total of 217 people from Andhra Pradesh are stranded in 12 different locations in Nepal, and all of them are in contact with the authorities. Of them, 173 are in Kathmandu, 22 in Hetauda, 10 in Pokhara, and 12 in Simikot near the Nepal–China border,” Minister for Real Time Governance Society (RTGS) Nara Lokesh told the media on Wednesday evening.

“By Thursday night, all people waiting for help up in Nepal will reach their homes. We will not rest until we ensure safe return of the last person from Nepal,” he said.

Mr. Lokesh, along with his Cabinet colleagues—Home Minister V. Anitha and Tourism Minister Kandula Durgesh, , is monitoring the situation.

He said that the largest groups of stranded Telugus in Nepal are from Visakhapatnam (42), Vizianagaram (34), and Kurnool (22), while the others are from different parts of the State.

“A flight kept ready in New Delhi will fly to Kathmandu on Thursday. It will depart from Kathmandu at 12.50 p.m. Passengers will be escorted to the airport under the security provided by the Nepal Army,” Mr. Lokesh said.

Explaining about the evacuation plan, he said the 12 people stranded at Simikot would be moved by a Nepalese airline on Thursday morning to Nepalgunj (UP border) from where they would continue their journey to their homes.

He said there were 22 Telugus at Hetauda, who had already begun their road travel towards Raxaul (Bihar border). The District Collector and other officials of Motihari in Bihar had been briefed to assist with their immigration, he said, adding that the Andhra Pradesh Bhawan in New Delhi will coordinate their onward jounrey to the State.

“Efforts are on to arrange a 14-seater charter flight to Nepalgunj to evacuate people stranded at Pokhara from where they would reach Lucknow by road before taking their final leg of the journey to Andhra Pradesh,” Mr. Lokesh said.

Answering a media query if the stranded people were in panic, Mr. Lokesh said they did sound worried on Wednesday morning, but constant monitoring and video calls at regular intervals by the officials to take stock of their situation gave them confidence as the day progressed.

Stating that the efforts of the officials and the government at every level enabled them to plan a smooth evacuation of the people trapped in Nepal in this difficult situation.