Kolkata: Three of the four men from Chalo Jaai Travel Club who had air-dashed to Kathmandu after the flash flood returned on Friday as chances of any meaningful participation in the search, rescue and recovery operations in the disaster zone appeared slim. The tour agency has decided to station only one man in Kathmandu to liaison with Samrat Tours & Travels, its partner agency in Nepal. The trio’s return, coupled with disruptions in the search operations on Friday due to fears of a second flood, left family members of those missing distraught. Officials at Chalo Jaai said its resources had been stretched to the limit with staffers working overtime to get information from across the border and attend to queries of tourists’ family members. Those missing include two of their own staffers — Jayanta Sanyal (45) and Nripen Sarkar (26).“On Thursday, three of our staffers had started by road towards Chitwan with officials of Samrat. Though they were unable to make much headway, the tales of devastation that we heard from them has been very distressing. Samrat is also using a helicopter to scan the region. In addition, we checked information on the rescued. Unable to make much headway, we have decided to station one person in Kathmandu and bring the rest back. If the person in Kathmandu gets any information, he has been told to relay it immediately,” said an agency official.Sources said one of the reasons behind recalling the three employees of Chalo Jaai was also pressure from their families who feared them getting caught in another catastrophe. News of the Chinese embassy in Nepal warning residents downstream of the landslide-dammed lake to remain highly-vigilant amid fears of a second flood contributed to their fears. “The tense wait for any news is excruciatingly painful, both for the families and us. It is frustrating that we have not yet been able to provide any meaningful information to families. But we can assure everyone that it is not due to lack of trying,” said Dibyojyoti Basu, founder of the travel firm.
