New Delhi: A team of experts from Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmir has joined the operation which resumed Thursday to rescue 27 mountaineers trapped on Draupadi’s Danda-II mountain peak in Uttarakhand. The expert team has joined the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), and Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) to rescue mountaineers caught in an avalanche on Tuesday, according to news agency ANI.
A team of High Altitude Warfare School also joined the search and rescue operation with ITBP, SDRF, NIM & NDRF. An advance helicopter landing ground is prepared at 16000 ft and a trial landing was successful on Thursday, reported news agency ANI.
On Wednesday, around 15 members of the mountaineering team were rescued, reported ANI. “The mountaineers who have been safely rescued were brought to NIM, and 16 mountaineers are safe in the base camp, to be rescued soon by the teams. Further rescue operations continue,” told Uttarkashi Police.
Meanwhile, trekking and mountaineering activities have been banned in Uttarkashi district for the next three days due to meteorological department’s rain and snow alert, informed Uttarkashi district magistrate, reported news agency ANI.
Rescue operation
The teams arrived at the Advance Base Camp to rescue the trainees of NIM Uttarkashi on Wednesday. Three teams would first reach the Intermediate Camp 1.5 km away at the avalanche site on Thursday to rescue over 25 trainees and four bodies trapped at the avalanche site, informed SDRF Commandant Manikant Mishra.
More teams have been sent to advance base camp from ITBP Matli.
Indian Air Force has deployed two helicopters from Sarsawa and Bareilly that has helped in rescuing several mountaineers from Base Camp located at about 12,000 ft to Matli helipad.
Struggled between death and life, says survivor
A day after four mountaineers lost their lives in the avalanche in Uttarkashi with several still missing, the survivors narrated their horrific experiences on Wednesday. Deep Thakur, a trainee from Gujarat, who survived the accident said the avalanche hit suddenly while climbing Draupadi’s Danda Peak for a summit at around 9.45 am, reported ANI.
Thakur, who is undergoing treatment at the district hospital, added that he along with his companions fell into the crevasses because of the avalanche to about 60 feet deep, where he struggled between death and life for about three hours.
Relief for victims
On Wednesday, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami carried out an aerial survey of the rescue and relief operation being carried out in the avalanche-hit area.
The CM also announced financial assistance to the kin of the deceased in the Uttarkashi and Pauri Garhwal tragedies which occurred on Tuesday. “An amount of Rs 2 lakh for deaths, Rs one lakh for serious injuries, and Rs 50,000 for normal injuries will be given to all those affected by these two tragedies,” an official said.
More than 32 people lost their lives and 20 were injured after a bus carrying a wedding procession fell into a gorge in the Birokhal area of Dhumakot in Pauri-Garhwal district on Tuesday night.