New Delhi: India has begun a multi-pronged response to devastating floods in Nepal, sending humanitarian assistance and medical supplies while coordinating efforts to locate Indian nationals reported missing in the disaster. The centre has also put the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and administrations in vulnerable border areas on high alert as a possible surge in water levels threatens downstream areas of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Speaking at the NDTV World Anviksha Summit in Kathmandu on Thursday, Nepal’s foreign minister, Shisir Khanal, said “town after town have been wiped out” in the disaster. He said close to 300 Indians, most of them Kailash Manasarovar pilgrims, were among roughly 500 foreign nationals still out of contact, a sharp revision from the 133 figure cited by Indian agencies a day earlier.
Khanal said Nepal remained in touch with the embassies of other affected countries and was as committed to the safety of foreign nationals as to its own citizens. He thanked India for its prompt relief effort, and appealed to tourists to keep visiting unaffected areas such as Pokhara and the Everest region to support Nepal’s recovery.
India’s relief effort
India’s first consignment of aid reached Kathmandu aboard an Indian Air Force C-130J aircraft carrying 10 tonnes of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) material, including temporary shelters, blankets, hygiene kits, solar lamps and medicines. S Jaishankar, the external affairs minister, said in a post on X that India’s “thoughts are with the bereaved families and all those affected.”
A second flight, a C-17 aircraft carrying 37.5 tonnes of HADR material, medicines and food packets, has since taken off from Hindon air base in Ghaziabad. The first consignment was formally handed over by India’s ambassador, Naveen Srivastava, to Nepal’s tourism minister, Khadak Raj Paudel.
Air Commodore R Dobhal, the air officer commanding (AOC) at Hindon Air Force Station, said the base readied a C-130J Hercules with relief material, medicines and generators as soon as the tasking came in, working with civil authorities and the NDRF. “We readied the aircraft and launched it as quickly as possible,” he said, adding that it took off around 8.30pm, reached Nepal within two hours, and delivered close to 10 tonnes of supplies.
Air Cmde Dobhal said the IAF “stands ready to assist anywhere in the world whenever the need arises,” noting the force had recently carried out a similar relief operation in Venezuela, besides its regular missions in Nepal, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. He added that a C-17 was scheduled to leave the same day, with the base fully prepared for further requirements.
Modi speaks to Nepal’s PM
As RNA media reported on Wednesday, the prime minister, Narendra Modi, spoke with his Nepali counterpart, Balendra Shah, and conveyed condolences over the loss of lives. In a post on X, Modi said India is ready to provide all possible humanitarian assistance, with Indian and Nepalese teams coordinating closely on rescue and relief work. Shah, in turn, thanked Modi for India’s solidarity and offer of assistance.
Home minister, Amit Shah separately spoke with the chief ministers of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, calling the devastation in Nepal “extremely heartbreaking” and confirming that the NDRF and local administrations in border areas had been placed on high alert.
President Droupadi Murmu and Rajnath Singh, the defence minister, also offered condolences to Nepal and pledged support for its relief and rescue effort.
The Nepal embassy in Delhi said its immediate priority was search and rescue, with deputy chief of mission Surendra Thapa saying the embassy was making every effort to locate and assist everyone affected, including foreign nationals from several countries.
Political reactions in India
Congress Rajya Sabha MP, Pawan Khera, posted on X, invoking writer Joan Didion’s reflections on grief to describe the suddenness of the disaster. He said the visuals from Nepal were a reminder of life’s uncertainty, and expressed concern for the missing Indians, hoping for their swift rescue.
Tamil Nadu chief minister, C Joseph Vijay, said in a post on X, that he was “deeply shocked and saddened” to learn that many Indians, including Tamils, had gone missing in the floods. He said he had directed senior officials at Tamil Nadu House in New Delhi to coordinate the swift rescue of state residents. Officials said several pilgrims from the state had already been rescued, while some remained stranded.
In Kerala, the chief executive of Norka-Roots, the state’s overseas affairs agency, said in a video statement carried by PTI, that “53 people stranded there have network and mobility issues,” referring to Keralites caught in the flood-hit areas, and that the agency was “making constant efforts to get in touch with them.”
Bihar, UP on alert as Gandak water levels may rise
Bihar’s water resources department said discharge at the Gandak barrage in Valmikinagar stood at 86,000 cusecs at noon on Wednesday and was rising, prompting officials to open all 36 gates as a precaution. Accoring to reports, the state has stepped up monitoring in West Champaran, East Champaran, Gopalganj, Saran, Muzaffarpur and Vaishali, with Sitamarhi and Sheohar also flagged as vulnerable.
Bihar’s chief minister, Samrat Choudhary, said a high-level team had been constituted, and that the chief secretary and the director-general of police were monitoring the situation. Home minister Amit Shah spoke with Choudhary and Uttar Pradesh chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, and said the NDRF had been placed on high alert in border areas that could be affected.
NDRF inspector-general Narendra Singh Bundela, briefing reporters in Delhi on preparations in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, said that “nine NDRF teams” were already deployed in Bihar, with two more sent to East Champaran and Muzaffarpur a day earlier. He said the state government had also deployed State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams, and that the Central Water Commission was monitoring discharge from the Valmikinagar barrage on the Gandak, with no impact on the ground so far.
Bundela added that NDRF teams were kept on standby, as is routine, and that any deployment to Nepal itself would depend on a decision by the Government of India.
In Uttar Pradesh, the state government issued alerts in Maharajganj and Kushinagar districts, both bordering Nepal, with 11 NDRF teams now deployed across the state. Uttarakhand’s disaster-management authorities have also briefed officials in border districts, including Chamoli, as a precaution.
Uttar Pradesh has also activated helpline 1070 for citizens stranded in Nepal or seeking assistance, while Telangana has established a control room to coordinate information and assistance for families of people from the state affected by the floods.
India is helping Nepal with relief and rescue while also preparing its own border areas for possible flooding. More aid is on the way, and Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are keeping a close watch on the Gandak.