Mumbai: For the 54 pilgrims from Panvel-based Pratibha Astrology group, a visa that arrived just in time has acquired a chilling significance. Had it been delayed by a day, they said, they could have been at Timure on the morning of August 26, when the flash flood devastated the Timure-Rasuwagadhi border area.Pune-based retired government officer Shyamrao Chavhan and his wife Vidya were among the group waiting at Syabrudesi village, a few kilometres before Timure, on August 25. The group, led by Madhav Guruji of Pratibha Astrology, was awaiting visa clearance involving formalities between Timure and Delhi offices.“We got the permissions on the previous night and entered Timure around 7 am on August 25. Had the visa been delayed, we would have had to wait another day. That would have meant being at Timure on the fateful morning of August 26,” Chavhan said.By the time of the tragedy, the 54-member group had crossed Kyirong and moved farther uphill towards Kailash. The pilgrims heard about the devastation while already on the route. The news left them shaken and their onward and return plans had to be altered.This is the third largest group of tourists to return to Maharashtra. The 54 landed on Thursday evening at Mumbai airport from Kathmandu. Earlier, troops of 105, 69 and 37 had returned separately.In all 265 people have reached home and around 64 are still reported missing. So far 42 people have given DNA samples in Maharashtra for identification of missing.The group’s ordeal did not end with escaping the flood zone.At Saga, about 230 km beyond Timure on the China side, oxygen levels became a serious concern. Sandip Vashishth (47), a pontiff accompanying the pilgrims, said the group spent nearly three days there, including two days resting, to acclimatise before proceeding towards Kailash.The pilgrims eventually reached Kailash but had to curtail the pradakshina midway after sherpas warned them about very low oxygen levels. The group had completed darshan at Mansarovar.Mulund residents Supriya Sawant (54) and her husband Sanjay Sawant (62) said the flash-flood reports and warnings from sherpas added to the anxiety.“We had to stop the pradakshina midway because oxygen levels were too low,” they said.The return journey brought another test. Their bus was diverted from the Kailash side towards Kathmandu through an alternative route, covering around 500 km.Vashishth described the nearly 18-hour journey as extremely tough, saying that at several high-altitude stretches “the road did not even exist”. Sherpas and local residents helped the pilgrims negotiate the difficult terrain.Chavhan said the Maharashtra government, particularly deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde, and Shiv Sena leader Rahul Shewale remained in touch with the pilgrims and helped facilitate their safe return. The Sawants also thanked Shinde and Shiv Sena workers for maintaining contact during the ordeal.
