Coordinated efforts on to bring home AP citizens stranded in Nepal

Vijayawada: The state government, in coordination with the Government of India and Nepalese authorities, has launched a large-scale evacuation plan to bring back 217 of its citizens who were stranded in Nepal. Evacuation efforts are scheduled to begin on Thursday.

A 218-seater IndiGo flight has been readied in Delhi and is set to depart for Kathmandu to airlift the majority of the stranded passengers.

The state government has established contact with all 217 citizens, who are currently located across 12 different sites in Nepal. The largest group, comprising 173 people, is in Kathmandu, while others are in Hetauda (22), Pokhara (10), and Simikot (12), which is near the Nepal-China border.

The group consists of 118 women and 98 men. A significant portion of the stranded individuals, nearly 70 percent, are above the age of 50, with 31 percent over 60. The largest contingents are from Visakhapatnam (42), Vizianagaram (34), and Kurnool (22), with the remaining individuals from 22 other districts in Andhra Pradesh.

An IndiGo flight with a capacity of 218 will depart from Delhi and is expected to fly to Kathmandu on Thursday. Following necessary clearances, the flight will leave Kathmandu in the afternoon on September 11. The Nepal Army will provide security escort to transport the passengers to the airport.

The 12 citizens in Simikot will be flown by a Nepalese airline to Nepalgunj, near theUttar Pradesh border, on Thursday morning. Helicopters are on standby as a contingency.

A 14-seater charter flight is being arranged to transport the 10 citizens from Pokhara to Nepalgunj, subject to approval from the Nepalese Air Force. From Nepalgunj, they will travel by road to Lucknow.

The 22 individuals in Hetauda have already begun their journey by road toward Raxaul on the Bihar border. The District Magistrate and Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Motihari, Bihar, have been briefed to provide assistance with immigration procedures. The Andhra Pradesh Bhawan will coordinate their onward travel to Andhra Pradesh.

The Andhra Pradesh government has assured the families of all stranded individuals that every effort is being made to ensure their safe and swift return. Dedicated teams are in continuous communication with the Embassy of India, the Government of India, and local officials to facilitate a smooth evacuation.

AP minister Nara Lokehs, who is coordinating efforts to bring stranded Telugus safelyto home, tweeted late in the night that 22 Telugus were brought to India via Bihar and efforts were on to bring others too.