‘Maybe he was calling to tell us about the flood’: A family waits for news from Nepal

The call Mahendra Vishwakarma made at 8 am on August 25 was their final communication. His brother Vikas noted, "We could not answer the call for some reason. After that, his calls stopped coming, and his number also stopped connecting. Maybe he was calling to tell us about the flood." The mechanical fitter, employed at a hydropower project in Nepal, vanished amid the flash floods that swept through Nepal and Tibet.

His younger brother shares the family's anxiety, "We don't know where he is or what condition he is in." Since August 26, there has been no contact, and the family has tirelessly tried to locate him, only to be told that several workers are missing and search efforts are underway. Shikha Lakra, head of the Jharkhand Migrant Workers Control Room, confirmed that the case remains under the "missing" category.

The ANDRITZ Hydropower team, coordinating with the team in Nepal, stated that they are still searching for Mahendra Vishwakarma. While several personnel have been rescued, some remain unaccounted for. The family, now seeking assistance from the Jharkhand government to travel to Nepal, is haunted by the thought that Vishwakarma is the sole breadwinner, with four school-going children and elderly parents to support.