Guwahati: Eight Assam residents rescued from flood-hit Nepal are expected to return home by Monday, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Sunday.Sarma said the group was expected to cross the India-Nepal border on Sunday evening. Arrangements had been made to fly them from Kathmandu to Siliguri, he said. Police from Assam’s Dhubri district have already left for Siliguri in West Bengal to bring them back to Assam.CM also said prof Tirtha Chaliha of Nalbari Medical College was safe, amid concerns over her whereabouts. Chaliha and two other Assam residents, Gautam Das and Gopal Chandra Debnath, were confirmed safe by state govt on Sunday.“We have a few people missing in Nepal. Yesterday evening we were able to establish contact with eight people — Pankaj Barman and others. We are bringing them back to Assam today,” Sarma told mediapersons here on Sunday afternoon.“A short while ago, we received another email from Tirtha Chaliha and her family, confirming that she has been located and is safe and well. A few others, however, are still missing,” he added.Sarma said a release issued by Centre on Sunday morning stated that a person identified as Mrityunjoy Narzary had been rescued. There may be more Assamese people in Nepal whose presence is not yet known to Assam govt, he said.“We are in contact with Nepal. We are in contact with the ministry of external affairs, and we are expediting the process of identifying missing people and also to bring those people back who have been rescued by the authorities in Nepal,” Sarma said.According to Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), 18 people from Assam were stranded or missing in Nepal’s flash floods as of Sunday. Of them, nine had been confirmed safe, while the remaining nine had not yet established contact with state govt, officials said.At least three workers from Assam engaged at Upper Trishuli Hydropower Project remained missing — Rhitupurno Brahma of Karbi Anglong, Shatadal Nath of Hojai and Arun Mahanta of Nalbari.Samar Bezbaruah, a rescued worker from the project, said flash floods swept through the project site, where around 11 workers from Assam were engaged.Meanwhile, family members of retired Gauhati University prof Dipali Sarkar reached Kathmandu on Sunday in search of her and her husband, Manash Kumar Ghosh. The family lost contact with the elderly couple after Wednesday’s flash floods. Family members said the couple were on their way to Kailash Mansarovar.“We will go to the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu tomorrow. Let’s see,” Sarkar’s nephew Tamajit Ghosh said.Others still missing include Montri Basumatary of Karbi Anglong, Rahul Daimary of Golaghat, Pankaj Naug of Guwahati and Birson Sangma of West Karbi Anglong.Samar Bezbaruah and Pankaj Barman, who were from the same village in Nalbari district, were confirmed safe on Friday. Contact was established on Saturday with Silva Marak, Sarbison Marak and Elipson Maran of West Karbi Anglong, and Soneswar Narzary of Karbi Anglong.
