Guwahati (Assam) [India], August 29 : Retired Gauhati University professor Dipali Sarkar and her husband Manash Ghosh have gone missing in flood-hit Nepal, triggering concern among family, colleagues and locals.
Sarkar, a former professor in the Department of Physics at Gauhati University, had travelled with her husband as part of a 32-member tour group from Kolkata. The group was en route to Kailash Mansarovar via Nepal when they went missing.
A resident of Basera Apartment in Lankeshwar, Guwahati, Sarkar's disappearance has caused anxiety among her colleagues, including fellow retired professor Kuntala Patra.
Patra said she last communicated with the couple on August 21 and has been unable to reach them since."
"She last contacted us on the 21st, after that we have had no contact," Patra said.
Patra said she has contacted the Indian Embassy in Nepal, but no information has been provided so far.
Making an urgent appeal to the government, Patra urged authorities to take immediate steps to trace and rescue Indian nationals stranded and missing in Nepal.
Earlier, authorities have recovered 616 bodies as the death toll of the August 26 flash flood in Rasuwa district of Nepal continues to rise, while 2301 people were injured and rescued, Nepal Police said.
As the flash flood hit the Bhotekoshi river system on August 26, Chitwan district witnessed the highest death toll of 233, followed by 158 in Nawalparasi (East), 48 in Gorkha, 47 in Nawalparasi (West), 45 in Dhading, 41 in Nuwakot, 31 in Tanahun and 13 in Rasuwa.
According to Nepal Police, 1,422 people were rescued from Nuwakot, 676 from Rasuwa and three from Dhading.
A total of 4,811 police personnel have been deployed for rescue and relief in flood-hit areas of Nepal.
The Himalayan nation only has the capacity to store about 350 bodies in morgues nationwide, which has led to a shortage of space to store the bodies until the families identify and claim them.
Rescue operations in Nepal's Trishuli region have been temporarily suspended as heavy rain intensified, raising the river level and forcing authorities to halt helicopter operations due to adverse weather conditions.
The worsening weather conditions have also prompted authorities to evacuate people from areas surrounding the rising river as a precautionary measure, officials said.
Meanwhile, Nepal Police said that the road section between Kathmandu and Mugling is fully operational, with only a one-kilometre stretch at Baireni Bazar in Dhading operating under one-way traffic.