A tea break, a raging river and a narrow escape: Chhattisgarh friends recount Nepal flood ordeal

A casual tea break may have saved the lives of five friends from Chhattisgarh when devastating flash floods swept through Nepal's Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river valleys on August 26.

The brief stop at a hotel in Malekhu town of Dhading district became a narrow escape for the group, who then spent two tense days on higher ground, sleeping in a rented car and watching the swollen Trishuli river carry away vehicles, bodies and debris.

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The five friends — Narayan Sen, Dinesh Ojha, Prem Singh Jagat, Yatendra Prakash and Dinesh Singh Thakur, all aged between 50 and 60 and residents of Raipur's Mana Camp area — returned home on Saturday after leaving Nepal on August 28.

"We were lucky that we stopped for tea on August 26 when the flash floods struck. If we had left 10-15 minutes earlier, we might have got trapped," 53-year-old Sen, who runs a salon, told PTI Videos.

"Had we not stopped there, we do not know what would have happened," he said.

The group had left Raipur on August 21 and reached Nepal the following day. They had hired a car and planned to visit the Pashupatinath Temple, Manokamana Temple and other tourist attractions.

Their trip took a dramatic turn around 9.30-10 am on August 26, when they stopped for tea at a hotel in Malekhu.

"There we learnt that a bridge ahead had been washed away in a flood. The hotel belonged to an Indian, who helped us a lot and provided us food," Sen said.

From their vantage point, the friends watched the disaster unfold.

"We saw cars being swept away in the Trishuli river. Bodies and a lot of other things were also being carried away by the current. We were scared. There was always a fear that the flood situation might worsen," Sen said.

Also Read: 15 seconds to decide who lives, who dies: The survivor tales of horrific Nepal flash floods

The group moved to higher ground in Malekhu and spent the night inside their car. Local residents and authorities helped them as the flood situation remained precarious.

Thakur, a 55-year-old police head constable, said they were around 50 km from Pashupatinath Temple when the floods struck.

"While having tea at the hotel, we noticed people suddenly becoming restive. Later, we learnt about the devastation caused by the flood. We heard that entire villages, buildings, offices and hydropower projects had been devastated," he said.

The friends later went to the bank of the Trishuli river to see the destruction for themselves.

"What we saw is very difficult to describe in words," Thakur said.

"We kept chanting Lord Shiva's name, and we feel his blessings protected us," he added.

Thakur also praised the local administration and police for helping them through the crisis.

"There was no electricity and water, but the administration and police helped us. They told us that we were at a higher place and should not worry," he said.

The group remained in contact with their families using the internet and also shared their location through the helpline provided by the Indian government.

"Internet service was working well there, so we remained in contact with our families and did not panic," Thakur said.

Yet amid the fear and devastation, the friends experienced a moment of unexpected warmth.

As Raksha Bandhan approached, local women security personnel tied rakhis on their wrists — a gesture that offered the stranded travellers some comfort during an otherwise traumatic ordeal.

"We were supposed to return from the trip after the Rakhi festival, so our sisters had already given us rakhis. The women security personnel deployed there tied these rakhis on our wrists. That was the most comforting moment," Thakur said.

Dinesh Ojha, who runs a tailoring shop, said the images from the aftermath of the floods would remain etched in their memories.

"We will never be able to forget what we saw. Many people were desperately searching for their missing family members," he said.

The nights were particularly difficult, he recalled.

"We slept in our car, but we could not really sleep. There was always the fear that another flood might come," Ojha said.

After two days of uncertainty, the five finally left Nepal on August 28.

"We are happy that finally we have reached back home," he added.