LUCKNOW, Sept. 11 -- More than 100 Indians, including several from Uttar Pradesh cities such as Lucknow, Varanasi, Faizabad and Muzaffarnagar, have been stranded in strife-torn Nepal for the past 24 hours, said Saumendra, a Lucknow resident, over the phone from Hilsa village in Nepal. A group of 35 people -- seven from Lucknow, nine from Varanasi, 10-12 from Faizabad, six from South Indian states and one from Gorakhpur -- had left for Kailash Mansarovar on August 31 and reached their destination on September 9. On their way back, the group halted at Hilsa, where they became stranded after helicopter services and other modes of transport were suspended due to anti-government protests and violence. Saumendra said the group had contacted the Indian Embassy and sent copies of their documents via email, but no breakthrough or assistance had come so far. "The problem is that many in the group are senior citizens. Hilsa is at a high altitude where lack of oxygen is a major concern," he explained. "Back home, families are worried about our well-being. There is a huge element of uncertainty as we are yet to hear from the embassy," he added. "We are only looking forward to the government of India to evacuate us at the earliest," said Alkesh Tiwari, another member of the group. Meanwhile, 10 traders from Muzaffarnagar, including BJP district coordinator Sunil Tayal, are also stranded in Kathmandu. The group had travelled to Nepal on September 7 to visit the Pashupatinath Temple. On Wednesday morning, the stranded traders briefly contacted their families, reporting a tense and insecure situation and expressing their desire to return to India at the earliest. Minister of state and local MLA Kapil Dev Aggarwal said he had reached out to both the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the ministry of external affairs (MEA) to coordinate assistance. "The government of India is actively working to ensure the safe return of the stranded individuals," he said. Apart from Sunil Tayal, the traders include Praveen Gupta, Kuldeep Singh, Pawan Kumar, Varun Dhankhar, Bhopal Singh, Sushil Tyagi, Ashu Bansal, Ajay Jain and Sachin Gupta....