LIVE | Nepal floods: Fresh rain alert in disaster zone but glacier lake shrinks: Reports

Every time her mobile phone rings unanswered near the flood-ravaged Nepal-Tibet border, the desperate family of 50-year-old Swati Bagrecha holds its breath, clinging to a ray of hope four days after they lost all contact with her.

Swati, a Toronto-based engineer who had left Delhi on August 8 with a 77-member group of the Isha Foundation for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, hasn't communicated with her family since 9 am on August 26, the day massive flash floods hit in Nepal.

Swati's 14-year-old daughter Anushka had stayed behind with her elder sister in Mumbai, according to the family. "Her mobile is still ringing, but she is not answering our calls. We are extremely worried about her safety," Swati's brother, Dr Prashant Bagrecha, told PTI.

Sukhvinder, a resident of Himachal's Una district, who was working as a mechanical engineer at the Trishuli Hydro Project in Nepal, has gone missing after the Nepal floods. Since the flash flood struck Nepal's Rasuwa and other districts on Wednesday (August 26), his family has been making continuous efforts to contact and locate him but has not succeeded so far, causing their anxiety to mount. The hydro project is located across Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts.

The family has approached the central government and local MP Anurag Thakur to locate their son.

Sukhvinder's father, Husan Lal, said on Saturday (August 29) that his son previously worked in Bhutan before the company transferred him to Nepal. Sukhvinder had returned to Nepal on August 15 after three months' leave.

According to Husan Lal, one of his nephews also lives in Kathmandu. While they are in touch with him, there is no news of Sukhvinder. His elder son, who lives in Dubai, has also reached Kathmandu to search for his brother and is gathering information. Sukhvinder is married and has an 18-month-old son.

Una sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Abhishek Mittal said that higher authorities have been informed about Sukhvinder going missing and the concerned ministry has also been contacted.

Salman Khan from Salooni in Chamba district has informed his mother via phone that he is safe in Nepal. The young man is working on a private project in the country. Reports indicate that his workplace is located on the opposite side of the flood-affected area, and he remained safe because he was inside a tunnel.

State Disaster Management Authority director said that the government's priority is to provide relief and rescue assistance to citizens stranded in disaster-affected areas and to bring them back safely to Himachal. The government is maintaining constant coordination with the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu.

The state government has established control rooms in all districts to assist people from Himachal stranded in Nepal and their families, officials said on Saturday. District administrations have been instructed to monitor the situation of Himachalis present in Nepal and take immediate action upon receiving any information.

Husan Lal mentioned that the administration has not yet contacted the family. However, he has spoken to some leaders from the BJP and the Congress. These leaders have requested a photograph of Sukhvinder and details regarding the Trishuli Hydropower Project from the family so that the state government can coordinate with the relevant agencies in Nepal to facilitate a search.

An anxious Husan Lal has appealed to the state government and the district administration to immediately contact the Nepal government and relevant agencies to search for his son.

Tearful embraces and hushed prayers marked the scene at the airport in Chennai as the Nepal flood survivors arrived safely. Twenty-one pilgrims from Tamil Nadu, caught in the jaws of catastrophic disaster in Nepal, set foot on home soil, carrying with them memories of horror and astonishment of having survived.

The group was part of a larger contingent undertaking the sacred Kailash Manasarovar Yatra when tragedy struck on August 26. A sudden, violent burst of flash floods and massive landslides tore through the mountainous Rasuwagadhi region near the Nepal-China border, transforming a serene spiritual journey into a desperate fight for life.

"It felt like a tsunami falling from the mountains," said one survivor, trembling as she embraced her weeping family. "Within seconds, the water swept away everything. The entire market area in Timure disappeared right before our eyes," she said.

The disaster claimed numerous lives and left hundreds missing across the region, including several other Indian travellers. For the Tamil Nadu pilgrims, safety came in the form of a gruelling trek to a border police outpost, where local authorities managed to shelter them before facilitating their transit to Kathmandu.

Through coordinated efforts between central and state officials, the group was flown back via New Delhi from Kathmandu, and landed in Chennai on an Air India flight on Friday night (August 28). They were received at the airport by state Ministers N Anand (Rural Development and Water Resources) and D Sarathkumar (Human Resources and Management), who oversaw their immediate welfare and transport home.

For these 21 survivors, the relief of returning home is inextricably bound to the haunting memory of a raging river that took so much in mere moments. Some of the survivors shared stories of the devastation they witnessed.

Later, speaking to reporters, Anand said four Tamil Nadu ministers sent to Delhi on instruction from Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, were coordinating well in the national capital. "Our efforts will continue till everyone is brought back home safely," he said.

Two women from Tiruchirappalli - Vallinayaki and Karpagam - recounted their harrowing experience surviving a natural disaster in Nepal. They were travelling in a bus towards the Chinese border when they encountered a massive landslide. They described seeing a thick, smoke-like cloud of mud and debris (resembling wet concrete) rushing down the mountain.

With no immediate external help, the 21 passengers on their bus worked together to survive. They escaped through the driver's side and climbed a steep, rugged mountain terrain. When some women struggled to climb, they used a sari to pull each other to safety, before help finally came, they said. They eventually reached a rescue centre after an arduous two-and-a-half-hour climb through difficult, pathless terrain.

The group emphasised the critical role played by the Nepal Army and local authorities in their rescue. They also credited the Tamil Nadu and Central governments for coordinating swift rescue efforts and providing assistance with travel and documentation.

The survivors expressed deep gratitude for their miraculous escape but requested privacy and sensitivity regarding others who are yet to be traced, noting that constant inquiries are difficult for the families involved.

Nearly 2,500 stranded people, including 163 foreigners, were evacuated by rescue teams in Nepal, as search and relief operations continued on Saturday (August 29) following the devastating flash floods that killed over 500.

The flash floods swept through Rasuwa and other parts of central Nepal on Wednesday (August 26), causing loss of life and widespread damage to settlements, roads, bridges, and hydropower infrastructure, while leaving nearly 2,000 people missing. More than 11,000 security personnel, including over 5,000 Nepal Army personnel, have been mobilised for search and rescue operations.

According to the Nepal Army's Public Relations Directorate, 2,465 people have been evacuated so far, including 163 foreigners - 113 Indians, 26 Chinese, 15 South Koreans, four Germans, two each from Italy and the US, and one Omani national.

As many as 191 workers were evacuated from tunnels of various hydropower projects in Trishuli and Rasuwa, it said. While 2,265 of those evacuated were rescued by helicopters, 200 were evacuated through land routes. Emergency health centres set up at Dhunche and Trishuli have so far provided medical assistance to 1,706 people evacuated from different flood-hit areas, it said.

Meanwhile, the Mugling-Kathmandu highway, a major road link connecting the capital with other parts of the country through land route, resumed operations on Saturday, Nepal Police said in a notice. It had remained closed since Wednesday due to the risk of flooding and landslides.

Nepal Police said operations resumed on the highway after assessing the situation, and vehicles are gradually allowed to move towards their destination. This has brought relief to passengers who had remained stranded on the highway for several days. National highways and other major road sections in central Nepal have been obstructed due to flood and landslide risks for the past four days.

Meanwhile, more than Rs 2.295 billion has been collected for the Prime Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund (PMDRF) by Friday night (August 28). The fund received Rs 1.91 billion within 36 hours from Wednesday afternoon to Thursday midnight, while assistance worth Rs 385.5 million was donated on Friday alone, according to sources at the Prime Minister's Office. The Ministry of Finance said the deposits were made to accounts held at 10 different commercial banks.

After the severe flash floods at the Bhotekoshi River, which flows along the Nepal-China border, the government declared the affected areas disaster zones. Following the decision, various organisations and individuals donated to the fund. With the latest contributions, the fund's balance has risen to Rs 4.09 billion from Rs 2.17 billion.

The government has designated the Ministry of Finance as the focal ministry for collecting contributions to the PMDRF and coordinating assistance. Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle has been personally accepting contributions of Rs 10 million or more from institutional donors, according to the minister's secretariat. It added that individual donors can provide cash contributions by visiting the ministry in person.