CHENNAI: Chief minister C Joseph Vijay on Thursday directed a senior IAS officer to travel to Kathmandu and ordered four cabinet ministers to camp in New Delhi to coordinate the evacuation of 103 pilgrims from Tamil Nadu stranded in Nepal following flash floods.Chairing a high-level review at the Secretariat after the Bhote Koshi river breached its banks in Rasuwa district, Vijay directed Tamil Nadu house resident commissioner Asish Kumar to lead an on-ground delegation to Nepal.The team will coordinate with the Indian Embassy and local authorities to trace missing tourists and expedite rescue efforts.Vijay also tasked ministers Aadhav Arjuna, A Rajmohan, K Thennarasu and R Vinoth with setting up a command centre at Tamil Nadu House in New Delhi.Rehabilitation director R Satheesh will join them in coordinating with the ministry of external affairs and managing evacuation logistics.The state government’s immediate priority is to airlift 20 pilgrims who have already been located. Medical and psychological support teams have also been deployed to receive the evacuees.The pilgrims had travelled for the Kailash Yatra in two batches of 57 and 49 before being stranded by the floods.Chief secretary M Saikumar and DGP Mahesh Kumar Agarwal were among the senior officials who attended the emergency review to finalise the evacuation arrangements.
