Nagpur: Some of the Nagpur pilgrims, who safely reached the city from Nepal via Bihar on Sunday morning, recalled how they narrowly escaped after leaving Kathmandu on Aug 28 in four minibuses. The buses had just crossed an overflowing bridge before the structure gave way. They claimed that another bus probably carrying Indian nationals was swept away.Yogesh Gawande, who had earlier coordinated with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis over a video call from Nepal, told TOI that the convoy was moving cautiously on stretches where floodwater spilt over roads and bridges. The buses crossed one after another, with drivers slowing almost to a crawl as water rushed across the surface. “Our four buses crossed safely. Seconds after that, the bridge was washed away, along with another bus that was still crossing on it,” he told TOI.The conditions along the route were equally unnerving. Dense fog had reduced visibility sharply as they left early in the morning, while thunderstorms and lightning accompanied the journey. At several stretches, water was flowing over the road.Another tourist, Sushila Monde, said what stayed with her was not one single stretch but the constant uncertainty. The group had visited Muktidham last Sunday and Manakamana Temple the following day, travelling along roads that later came under severe stress from floods and landslides. “When we saw the situation later, we realised how vulnerable those routes had become. You could barely make out the road ahead,” she said.Musician Dashrath Yadav, who travelled to Nepal on Aug 19 with two others for a kirtan-bhajan mahotsav and was supposed to return by Aug 26, was also stranded and eventually returned with the Nagpur group. “At several places, stretches had been washed away, and water was flowing with strong current across roads and bridges. Sitting in vehicle and watching that water rush past us was terrifying,” he said.Another traveller, Shridhar Tripathi, became emotional while recalling the ordeal. “We did not know if we would survive; the situation was so dire. When the flood hit, we were asked to vacate our accommodation. The travel agency agreed to take us back, but after we paid them, they retracted. After enduring so much, it feels unreal to reach our motherland,” he said.Tripathi added that fear stayed with them throughout the journey. “Every inch the bus moved on those flooded roads, our palpitations increased,” he said.The group eventually made it through the worst stretches with the help of smaller Nepal-registered vehicles and local drivers familiar with the terrain.
