Over 200 from State stranded

The State government on Saturday deputed two senior officers to help and monitor the rescue of 200-250 people from the across the State, 85 of them from Bengaluru, stranded in the earthquake-hit Nepal.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said a clear picture on the number of people stranded in Nepal was yet to emerge. “We will provide all the help and bring them back to the state,” he said.

Ritesh Kumar Singh, Secretary (Revenue Department), Disaster Management Cell, said that as per the preliminary information, about 200-250 people from the State were stranded in Nepal. 

“Our primary task is to bring them back. If any extended aid is required, it will be provided by the State,” Singh said. 

Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Chief Secretary Kaushik Mukherjee said the government has opened toll-free number 1070 and also a control room with telephone number 080-22340676 to provide help and information round the clock.

IAS officer and Bescom Managing Director Pankajkumar Pandey and IPS officer and IGP (Belagavi range) Umesh Kumar are on their way to Nepal. 

They have been chosen because they know the terrain well and have worked in those regions on previous occasions. 

Mukherjee said the State government was also in constant touch with the External Affairs Ministry. Singh has been appointed in-charge of the control room and can be contacted at 080-22251958.

A press release issued by the State information department said as many as 85 tourists from the State had left Nepal in a bus and were expected to reach Gorakhpur on Sunday.