40 Bengalureans to return today

The Nepal temblor has sent shock waves in Karnataka too, with around 250 people from the state stranded there. The good news is that the first batch of 40 Bengalureans will fly to Delhi early Sunday and land in Bengaluru by noon, according to immigration officials and embassy sources. "Nearly 400 Indians are waiting at Kathmandu airport," they said.Shivaram MS, a tour coordinator in Kathmandu, confirmed 40 Bengalureans are with him at the airport. Chief secretary Kaushik Mukherjee told STOI that two senior officers, Bescom MD Pankaj Pandey and IGP (north range) Umesh Kumar, have gone to Nepal. Meanwhile families back home are worried as the Kathmandu airport has been shut and communication lines are cut off.Sunitha Gowda, a resident of Veerbhadranagar near Banashankari, broke down when STOI called her: "My parents went to Nepal for a tour on April 16 and were to return on Monday. My father L Siddamaraiah called me at 5.55pm on Saturday after the quake and seemed to be in shock. He could hardly speak and asked me to get help from Bengaluru.I am praying they are safe." Ritesh Kumar Singh, IAS officer who is heading the helpline and disaster management committee, said, "At least 250 people from Karnataka are stranded in Nepal. We tracked down two large groups of 85 and 40 Kannadigas each who are safe . IAF has started evacuation," he said.--inputs by Arunima Chakraborty and Disha Sanghvi Bizman called an hour before takeoff Businessman Ramakrishna Elluru, 32, from Yelahanka New Town had gone to Kathmandu on a business trip on April 18 and was to return by Saturday's 4.30pm flight. His friend Raghavendra B R told STOI, "He last called me at 3.30pm, an hour before his flight was to take off from Kathmandu. Since then, we've been unable to connect. His family is very worried." She was on tour with 6 friends Susheela, 54, an LIC employee from Davanagere, who had gone on a tour to Nepal with six Bengaluru-based friends on April 22, finally established contact with her kin.Susheela, who is single, had spoken to her family at 11am from Muktinath but later lost contact, said her sister Krishnaveni. Group waits for road clearance Sooryakant Dambal and his family and friends, who were part of a 35-member group from Belagavi, are safe, said his son-in-law Rajendra Anegundi from Chikkodi. But they can't return until the local administration gives them the road clearance, as several roads have developed cracks following the earthquake, he added. Miraculous escape for family of seven A seven-member family from Mysuru had a narrow escape as they left Kathmandu just an hour before the tragedy. B S Nagaraj, priest at Ramamandira in Paduvarahalli, and his family reached the Indian border just after noon, said his brother-in-law.They were part of an organized trip by Karnataka Kisan Sangha in Bengaluru. Student worried about his parents A distressed Sandeep H R, a college student from Jayanagar, said his parents flew to Kathmandu on Thursday and were expected to visit Pokhra on Saturday."They last spoke to me at noon. I have no clue whether they have reached Pokhra or are stranded there or are in Kathmandu still. I'm unable to speak to them," he said. -TOI