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Floods in India turn pilgrimage into nightmare
Emotions were overflowing at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) last Tuesday with the arrival on a special flight of another group of pilgrims who had been stranded by the floods in Chennai.
At the BIA: Coming home after an ordeal. Pix by Amila Gamage
Elderly evacuees with strained, drawn faces looked anxiously around for a glimpse of their families; other rushed off for buses to reach their homes and loved ones.
A special flight, UL119, was sent to New Delhi on Tuesday to rescue 305 pilgrims stranded without any means of transportation to catch the special flights sent last Sunday to the Trichy and Bodhgaya airports to transport pilgrims back to Colombo from Chennai.
Punyawathi, a 70-year-old from Kapugoda, was among the many frustrated pilgrims who had been trapped in New Delhi for six days as downpours and floods disrupted rail and road transport to Chennai and closed down the city’s airport.
She was horrified, she said, when notified to remain in New Delhi until further notice just when preparing to take a train back to Chennai for her scheduled flight to Colombo at the end of her pilgrimage.
Worry and frustration mounted as she and other pilgrims spent money from depleted funds on an extended stay in New Delhi without knowing when they would be able to be reunited with their families.
Gunapala Bogahawatta from Ambilipitiya accused Indian officials and Sri Lankan officials in New Delhi of having been reluctant to provide facilities for the stranded Sri Lankan pilgrims.
Gunapala Bogahawatta
“More than the Sri Lankan officials who are stationed in New Delhi, Indian officials did not bother enough to take initiatives in caring for us until we departed,” Mr. Bogahawatta said.
The 65-year-old said the High Commission had provided shared accommodation – but this had amounted to five elderly people having to share a room at the Sri Lanka Buddhist Pilgrim Rest in New Delhi.
The arrangement was unhygienic due to overcrowding and because most of the pilgrims were suffering from minor ailments that required attention.
The officials had been reluctant to take action over the deteriorating health conditions of the pilgrims in the resthouse, Mr. Bogahawatte said.
J.D. Premawathi, 60, from Omalpe, said the pilgrimage to India had been a “once in a lifetime” opportunity for travelers who had paid the pilgrimage operators with life savings or by taking loans from banks and loan sharks.
She said many had been compelled to spend the small amount of money they had left to pay for food and other necessities during the extra time they spent in New Delhi
“We at least, managed to visit all the Buddhist historical sites before we were stranded but there were people who had spent their life savings and loans for the pilgrimage but had been unable to visit the sites because they were stranded in Chennai as they landed and been sent back after couple of days,” Ms. Premawathi said.
A tour operator from Matale, Chaminda Prasad Ekanayake, criticised officials for allegedly attempting to get rid of pilgrims seeking refuge at the Sri Lanka Buddhist Pilgrim Rest by attempting to send them by train to Chennai and Trichy even though services had been disrupted with the flooding across Tamil Nadu.
He said although officials had agreed with tour operators not to charge for the rooms in which the pilgrims had been given emergency accommodation the travellers had been forced to pay for their food and other facilities at the resthouse.
Punyawathi
Another tour guide from Chennai, Upali Gunasena, said he had been charged Rs. 250 in Indian currency for each stranded traveller, including himself, for food and accommodation. He said he had been in charge of a group of 47 pilgrims and added that 295 pilgrims were stranded at the Chennai Maha Bodhi Resthouse.
“There were five-foot-high floods when we reached Chennai airport on December 3 and were informed that the airport had been closed due to the inclement weather. The area was flooded with drainage water and we were stuck, not being able to walk through the floodwaters,” Mr. Gunasena said.
After further discussions with the Sri Lankan High Commission and the Maha Bodhi Society, all the pilgrims were directed to Bodhgaya and Trichy airports to board special chartered flights through SriLankan Airlines and Mihin Lanka, Mr. Gunasena said.
According to SriLankan Airlines sources, 3,867 passengers, including pilgrims, were stranded in Chennai while 3,340 passengers were stranded in Colombo with flights being cancelled due to Chennai airport being closed from December 3.
SriLankan Airlines resumed operations on Tuesday with flights UL 127 and UL 128.
J.D. Premawathi
