nepal floods search
Pawan Luthra: It has now been 14 days since the devastating floods in Nepal and there’s still no news of Lakshmi, Sreedharan, Rishabh and Rudra Iyer. When we last spoke to close family friend Sarada Viswanathan, she was deeply frustrated, particularly over a phone ping received after the floods and the feeling that crucial time was lost because no one was able to act. Since then, the Australian government has stepped up its involvement while extended Iyer family members have travelled to Nepal and have become directly involved in the search. nepal floods search
Today we speak again with Sarada about the latest search effort, what is she hearing from Nepal and how you keep hope alive when every passing day brings uncertainty. Hi Sarada.
Sarada Viswanathan: Hi, thanks for having me again. To answer your question, I guess the way that we keep up hope is because we’re receiving small pieces of information every now and then, so it’s providing us with a lot of hope that they did manage to escape. In particular, we received official information from the AFP stating that one of the members in the group had a phone ping the day after the disaster.
Pawan Luthra: The day after, because last time we spoke, you mentioned there was a phone ping very soon after the disaster.
Sarada Viswanathan: Yeah, exactly, so that information that we received about the phone being a few hours after wasn’t from official authorities, it was from the phone providers over in Nepal, but it wasn’t directly from the AFP or DFAT. But this information we received was directly from AFP and DFAT, saying that one of the group members had a phone ping the day after. So that was really positive news for us, although I guess the main frustration after that is that we haven’t heard anything since. So, the information we were provided was just the phone ping and just the date, but we weren’t given any location or time.
Pawan Luthra: Right, and AFP, the Australian Federal Police, told you this and what happened after that? Have they informed the Nepalese authorities, or do you have any idea where that information has gone? nepal floods search
Sarada Viswanathan: No, that’s the thing. So, we’ve been told that the relevant authorities in Nepal have been notified, but once again that’s just a blanket statement and we’re unsure as to what to make of that because we don’t know where it’s going or whether it’s actually being utilised. Like I was saying earlier, the government over there is likely extremely overwhelmed with the amount of information they’re receiving.
It’s not just a one country operation; there’s like five or six countries that are involved in this. So, the amount of information that they’re getting must be so large and so we don’t want there to even be a chance that the information we’re able to provide, which seems quite critical, is kind of swept away in that. So, we’re just hoping that we get a bit more clarity regarding where our information is actually going and just some assurance that that information is actually being utilised for targeting search efforts.
Pawan Luthra: Sarada, the Australian government has sent personnel over there to help. What have you heard about their feet on the ground?
Sarada Viswanathan: So, we’ve heard that the Australian army or the personnel that have been sent over have been used to help Nepal in general. So, they haven’t been used to target, you know, finding Australians specifically, which is understandable because they’re over there to help the country and we don’t expect them to, you know, only be looking for Australians because that would be, you know, quite selfish on our part. But we’re just hoping that the information that we give is at least helping with some kind of search rescue operations.
But till date we’re not being given any information on where the searches are being conducted, which areas have been scouted, which areas are left to be scouted, where they could possibly be and, you know, what searches have been conducted in those areas, as well as, you know, definitive information on the phone ping because we need that location. That’s the most important part, as well as the time. So, we haven’t been given any clarity on that.
So once again, we’re just left in the dark. And as you can imagine, as the days pass, the hope we have has become dimmer and dimmer. But it still hasn’t gone away. We’re still very hopeful.
Pawan Luthra: So, your request to Prime Minister Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong is to actually reach out and communicate with yourselves and other members of families who are missing in Nepal to have more clarity on what’s going on.
Sarada Viswanathan: Yeah, we want two things. So, we want, yes, like you said, we want some information and we want some clarity. I mean, right now, like DFAT is doing a good job of communicating with us.
We’re getting daily correspondence or correspondence every few days. But once again, because there’s not much information to give, it’s kind of just a call to say, hey, we don’t have anything new to tell you. But the other thing that we really want is we want to make sure that that information that we have obtained or that they have provided us is actually being deciphered and is actually being used for something good.
So, we want to just know that our families are being thoroughly looked for and that the GPS data we found is being looked into. The phone pings are being looked into. The possible areas that they could be are looked into very properly and very efficiently.
Pawan Luthra: Sarada, you’re also in touch with other families in Australia whose loved ones are missing. What are you guys saying to each other?
Sarada Viswanathan: We’re all just trying to bounce off hope and positivity with each other. We’re trying to just keep each other going because obviously we have our ups and downs. It’s not easy at all to try and remain positive in such a catastrophic situation.
But I think the thing that we try and tell each other is that if we lose hope from here when we have each other, how on earth are our families that are stranded over there going to remain hopeful? We know how much we care about them. We know how much they care about us.
We know that if they managed to survive that flood, there is not one thing that would make them give up on us. They know they have so much over here. I even told Rishabh myself before he left, I told him if anything happened to you, I will look for you until I die. I will not stop. So, I’m hoping that he remembers that and I’m hoping that everyone remains hopeful and that we don’t stop looking for them because the last thing that any of us want is for them to be forgotten.
Pawan Luthra: That sent goosebumps on me. So, tell us about friends and family from India who have rushed to Nepal. What are they telling you about the search?
Sarada Viswanathan: So, they’re also meeting a lot of dead ends because the army is stopping them from reaching a bunch of places, which is fair enough because if a lot of individuals are running around, it’s not going to be a proper operation for the country. But I think that we’re all kind of reaching dead ends. So, we’re trying our best to do whatever we can, as just individuals and just as people. And we’re trying to see whether we can try and pressure these searches to continue. The good thing is that we know that the searches are continuing. And obviously, if there was no hope or no chance, then people wouldn’t continue search operations.
So, we’re just hoping that this momentum continues and that they don’t stop there. So, there was a lady in Nepal that was found after 10 days, and she was stuck underneath the rubble. And her family had already performed the last rites for her, and they had kind of already given up hope.
So, I think that’s the last thing that I would want us to do is kind of give up hope prematurely, when there is still a chance that they could be out there. We know that miracles happen every single day. And I don’t see a reason why this wouldn’t be one of those situations. So, I think until we hear anything definitively, just everyone, just keep up your hope, keep up your prayers, and we’ll bring them home.
Pawan Luthra: And we are praying for a miracle. That’s now day 14. How do you keep yourself positive? And do you have moments when you fear the worst?
Sarada Viswanathan: Yeah, definitely. I mean, at the end of the day, I’m only human. I definitely think I definitely have moments where I think, you know, what if what if like, they didn’t make it or what if they didn’t, but then I just think that there’s no point thinking of the worst when there’s been no news to confirm that.
And I think that like, I wouldn’t be doing right by him or his family or any of the other families if I decided to give up on them until we hear anything. So, I think like I’ve maintained like, no matter how long it takes until I hear anything definitive, like I won’t stop, and I don’t think any of us will either.
Pawan Luthra: And on a day-to-day basis, you’re running life as usual, going for your studies, doing the normal things or how you’re doing things on a day-to-day basis?
Sarada Viswanathan: No, so with my university, it’s been a little bit difficult, but they’ve been really supportive. And they’ve made arrangements for me to continue my studies but also giving me like the kind of time and space and support that I need, which has been really, really helpful. I have a lot of friends and family around me as well. And they’ve been really, really supportive. And I couldn’t do any of this without them. So, I’m very, very grateful.
Pawan Luthra: And you have thousands of people who sent you good wishes on our last interview, and I’m sure they’ll feel your pain, but they’ll also be boldened by your hope, which you are sharing with all of us. Thank you, Sarada, for your time.
Sarada Viswanathan: Thank you so much. Thank you.
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