LUCKNOW, Sept. 3 -- Anand Singh was just hours ahead of the disaster. The 53-year-old Bareilly jailer had completed the Kailash Mansarovar parikrama and returned to Kathmandu on August 25. He had travelled through Rasuwa shortly before flash floods hit and was about 120 km away when devastation unfolded.

"I was only 10-12 hours ahead of the disaster, and that saved my life. This time God saved me," Singh said after returning to work.

Singh was among 46 pilgrims travelling with a Nepali tour operator. It was his second attempt after his 2019 pilgrimage failed.

For others from Uttar Pradesh, the floods brought loss, fear and days of uncertainty.

Varanasi resident Shivani Chaurasia watched her family's life in Nepal collapse as floodwate...