Nepal flash floods: 220 of 350 Tamils safe, efforts are on to trace others, Advocate-General tells HC

Nepal flash floods: 220 of 350 Tamils safe, efforts are on to trace others, Advocate-General tells HC

Security personnel and others at an army base camp during a rescue and relief operation in Rasuwa district, Nepal. PTI

Mohamed Imranullah S.

CHENNAI. 03.09.2026

Advocate-General (A-G) Vijay Narayan on Wednesday told the Madras High Court that 220 out of 350 Tamils reportedly stranded in Nepal following flash floods were safe, and that the State government had provided free air tickets for the return of a few, besides issuing air tickets to Kathmandu for the relatives of others who were missing.

Appearing before the first Division Bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan, the A-G said that a total of 305 Tamils had travelled to Nepal from Tamil Nadu, and another 45 Tamils (36 from other countries and nine from other States) had gone there from elsewhere. He said 220 of them were reported safe, as of 6 p.m. on September 1.

The A-G said 57 people, including retired Madras High Court judge V. Sivagnanam, had gone to Nepal on a spiritual tour via Super Yatra Travels in Kumbakonam. Twenty-one of them had been rescued, while the remaining 36 were unreachable. The brother of a missing woman named Tiripurasundari was issued a free air ticket to Kathmandu, and he had provided a sample for DNA testing (to help identify his missing sister), he said.

Similarly, air tickets at the government’s expense had been provided to three more persons, including the retired judge’s son, S. Gnanasambandam. Three officials from the Tamil Nadu House in New Delhi had been stationed in Kathmandu to provide assistance in tracing the missing Tamils, and a help centre set up by the Tamil Nadu government had received 2,336 calls so far, the A-G said.

He said all 150 persons who had gone on a spiritual tour through Aathma Yoga, a tour operator, had returned to their native places in Tamil Nadu. As for the 39 others who had gone on the Kailash Yatra through Ideal Tours and Trekking, all of them had reached New Delhi between August 30 and September 1, and had proceeded to their native places after being received by Minister for Non-Resident Tamils Welfare K. Thennarasu, the A-G said.

Efforts were continuing through the Indian Embassy to contact 49 Tamils who had gone on a tour through Mahadev Kailash Yatra Travels, Chennai. Further, of the 10 other persons who were reported missing through the helplines, five have reached Tamil Nadu. One of them, Abhishek of the Nilgiris district, was provided a free air ticket from Nepal to Coimbatore, he added.

The other five Tamils had gone to Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, and had decided to return to Tamil Nadu a few days later, he said. “The State government has been making continuous efforts to trace the missing Tamils and bring them back safely,” the A-G said in response to a public interest litigation petition filed by an advocate, seeking the rescue of all the Tamils, including the retired judge.

After taking note of the A-G’s submissions, the judges directed the Centre and the State government to file a further status report after a week.