Kanpur: A Kanpur-born couple living in the United States has gone missing near the China-Tibet border amid severe flooding in Nepal, leaving their family anxious after losing contact with them during the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.Pankaj Mishra, 55, a software engineer, and his wife Ragini, 52, were undertaking the pilgrimage when communication with them suddenly ceased at around 9 am on Aug 26. Ragini had last spoken to her brother, Praveen Dwivedi, in Kanpur a day earlier. Since then, the family has been unable to reach the couple for five days.Dwivedi, who lives on P Road, said the family has approached the Prime Minister’s Office but has not received any updates. He said he plans to seek assistance from the Kanpur administration to help locate the couple.Ragini and Pankaj were married in Shyamnagar in 1998 and moved to the US around 12 years ago. Their son also lives and studies in the US.According to Dwivedi, the couple left the US on Aug 18 for their trip to Nepal and Tibet and visited Pashupatinath in Kathmandu on Aug 20. During their last conversation on Aug 25, they were travelling towards the Mansarovar pilgrimage. Ragini told him that the journey involved a 52-kilometre trek and that mobile connectivity would not be available.Pankaj’s brother, Dr Anil Mishra, and their parents, Rajendra and Suman Mishra, live in E Block, Shyamnagar. Dwivedi said both families are increasingly worried following reports of destruction in Tibet and Nepal.
