SHIMLA/KOLKATA: Two trekkers from West Bengal have died while 12 others, including four Bengal trekkers and porters, are stranded at the over 5,000m high Khamengar glacier in Pin valley of Spiti in Himachal Pradesh due to inclement weather. While aerial rescue is not possible in the region, a search and rescue operation by a 32-member team has been initiated, but may take up to a week.
Encountering mostly inclement weather in the last few days with heavy snow and poor visibility, the team got stranded on the Khamengar glacier at -- an altitude of up to 6,000m.
Airlifting is not possible in such tough terrain: DC
The trekkers’ plight came to be known on Monday when two members from the group managed to reach Kaza, the sub-division headquarters, and informed the officials that their group is stranded on the glacier and two trekkers have died.
Lahaul-Spiti deputy commissioner Neeraj Kumar said the administration had sought helicopter rescue but airlifting would not be possible due to the tough terrain. "A search and rescue team of 32 members, including 16 jawans from Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), six jawans from Army’s Dogra Scouts and 10 porters, has been formed. The team alsocomprises a military doctor. The team has reached Pin valley of Spiti and will start the challenging climb on Tuesday morning," he said.
The team will start climbing from Ka village and is expected to camp at Chango Thango on Tuesday. It is likely to reach Dhar Thango the following day and Khamengar on Thursday. The team’s return trek will take another two-three days.
The DC said the trekkers are members of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF).
The deceased have been identified as Bhaskar Deb Mukherjee, 61, Barrackpore, Kolkata and Sandeep Kumar Thakurta, 48, Belgharia, West Bengal. The stranded trekkers include Debashish Vardhan, 58, Ranadhir Roy, 63, Tapas Kumar Das, 50 and Atul, 42, all residents of West Bengal.
Mukherjee was a retired bank employee. His brotherin-law Goutam Bhattacharya said, “ He was addicted to trekking. We warned him repeatedly not to go this time as he had been diagnosed with a lung disorder. He also suffered from pneumonia only a few months back. But he didn't pay any heed to our warnings and joined the team. We came know that he had acute breathing trouble after climbing down and later died.”
The family of Thakurata, a school teacher of Baruipur high school and a resident of Rifle Range Road near Jatindas Nagar in Belgharia, said they had come to know of his death on Monday morning. His cousin Subir Kr Roy, said “He suffered acute breathing trouble due to shortage of oxygen at the high altitude and collapsed. We urge the state government to make an immediate arrangement to bring back his body."
Kristi Biswas, Thakurata’s sister-in-law, said he was very fond of trekking, but they never thought that such a tragedy would occur this time.
