Chennai:
Amid growing uncertainty over Tamil Nadu pilgrims caught in the Nepal disaster, a Public Interest Litigation before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has sought urgent directions to the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government to establish the whereabouts of every pilgrim and ensure their rescue and safe return.
The court is likely to hear the petition today.
The plea, filed by advocate A F Parvesh Mushraf, has made the Union of India, represented by the Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, and the Minister (Consular), Embassy of India in Kathmandu, among the respondents. Besides the Kumbakonam-based travel operator Super Yathra Travels, have also been made respondents.
The petition focuses on what the petitioner describes as the absence of an authoritative, official, person-wise verification of the status of the pilgrims.
The affidavit points out that while some members of a 57-member Kumbakonam-based pilgrimage group have reportedly reached safety, the number reported missing has fluctuated, at one stage being put at 37. The petitioner says this itself shows the lack of a verified official record.
“Continued dependence on informal or media-sourced information is wholly unacceptable where 57 human lives…are at stake,” the petitioner says in the affidavit.
The concern gains significance as the Tamil Nadu government, based on travel itineraries shared by two tour operators, has said 103 pilgrims from Tamil Nadu travelled to Nepal. However, the centre nor the state government has released an official name-wise list of those who travelled, those rescued and those still missing.
Tamil Nadu School Education Minister Raj Mohan has also acknowledged the challenge of accounting for people who may have travelled independently or in smaller groups.
The petitioner has sought a comprehensive, officially verified, person-wise list to be placed before the court and made available to affected families, clearly identifying those rescued and safe, those hospitalised or under medical care and those still unaccounted for.
The plea also seeks individual-wise search, location and rescue of the remaining unaccounted-for pilgrims, currently reported in the affidavit at approximately 37 in the Kumbakonam group.
It seeks immediate medical treatment, medicines, food and shelter for those rescued in an injured or vulnerable condition, and medical evacuation and safe repatriation wherever necessary.
The petitioner argues that families are unable to independently verify the safety of their relatives because the disaster has damaged roads, bridges and communication networks in the mountainous region. The affidavit says some missing pilgrims could be injured, trapped, displaced or already rescued but not yet reported to their families.
The plea invokes the constitutional obligation of the State to protect citizens who are helpless outside the country, citing earlier judgments of the Madras High Court. It argues that where lives are at stake, the government’s response must be proactive and expeditious.
The petition specifically asks the Union and State authorities to coordinate with the competent Nepalese search-and-rescue authorities and the travel operator to trace and rescue the remaining pilgrims. It also seeks an authenticated mechanism through which verified information on the whereabouts and condition of each pilgrim is communicated to their families.
The Tamil Nadu government has meanwhile established a helpline, deputed four ministers to Delhi to coordinate with the Centre, and is sending the Tamil Nadu Resident Commissioner in Delhi and his team to Nepal to expedite relief operations and the return of stranded pilgrims.
