Even as the Union Government is pulling out all stops to rescue the Indians stranded in Nepal in the wake of the devastating earthquake, a 45-year-old trekker from Maharashtra, still stuck in the Himalayan nation, today alleged that those who offered bribes to local rescue workers were getting a preferential treatment.
"I, my wife and my daughter had gone for a trek to the Everest base camp as a part of a group of 24 people when the earthquake struck. There was complete chaos after that. From the base camp, we somehow managed to come down to Lukla on Monday, after which my wife and daughter were flown to Kathmandu by the Indian Air Force," said Dr Sanjay Sanghvi, speaking to PTI over phone from Lukla.
Dr Sanghvi, resident of Dhule in north Maharashtra, was part of the trek organised by Yuvashakti group.
"We are stuck at Lukla airport. Only few private airlines are operating from here to Kathmandu. The Nepali officers of these airlines and their Sherpa agents are taking money and giving preference to foreigners other than Indians. We Indians are absolutely neglected. They even tried to attack an Indian TV crew when they tried to film the event," Sanghvi said.
He said that the group has valid tickets to fly to Kathmandu from Lukla today, but they are not being allowed to board the aircraft.
"Please do something. There is a big chaos here. Though we have tickets for today to fly from Lukla to Kathmandu, we are not allowed to board the aircraft. The staff here is entertaining only foreigners. 70 to 80 Indians are here without any help," Sanghvi said.
When contacted, the Chief Minister's Office said that the complaint will be forwarded to Maharashtra Sadan in Delhi.
"We will be sending this complaint to Maharashtra Sadan, from where it will be forwarded to the Ministry of External Affairs," the official said.
