Kolkata, Aug 28 (IANS) Two of the 39 tourists from West Bengal who had been missing for the last couple of days in Nepal due to the devastating floods there had been contacted, the Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari informed media persons on Friday night.
He also informed that communication had not been established yet with the remaining 37 tourists from West Bengal who are missing from the state till date.
He also informed that the two tourists who had been contacted are from Basirhat sub-division in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.
On Friday night, the Chief Minister also had a virtual interaction with the family members of missing tourists from West Bengal. The virtual meeting was arranged at the state police’s headquarters at Bhabani Bhavan in South Kolkata.
“This is not just the crisis of those families whose members are missing in Nepal. The entire state is worried about this. We are trying our best to bring everyone back safely. The state government wants to send a team to Nepal. Permission has been sought from the Union Ministry of External Affairs for this,” CM Adhikari told media persons after the virtual meeting with the family members of the missing tourists.
He also said that as per the proposal sent to the Union Ministry of External Affairs, the team from West Bengal who will visit Nepal, if permitted, will have a member of the state cabinet, one secretary-level Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer and one police officer in the rank of Inspector General of Police (IGP).
“As soon as we get the permission from the Union Ministry of External Affairs, our team will leave for Kathmandu,” the Chief Minister said.
It is learnt that the majority of the 39 missing persons were part of a group of pilgrims from the state, who went to the neighbouring Himalayan state on a tour arranged by a Kolkata-based tour operating agency. This includes two staff of the tour operator agency.
–IANS
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