Two trekkers, Sandeep Kumar Thakurata and Bhaskar Dev Mukhopadhyay, lost their lives during an expedition near Khamengar Glacier, Himachal Pradesh as the other team members along with local guide and porters remain stranded at about an altitude of 17830ft.
An Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) rescue team with Dogra scouts and porters are planning to start from Ka village tomorrow the 28th September 2021.
This Trek team from West Bengal had started from Batal on 15th September 2021 and had a plan to cross the Khamengar glacier to reach Kaza. They were trying to open a new route to connect Lahul Himalaya and Spiti Himalaya.
Bara Sighri Glacier (PC Debasish Bardhan)
The local administrators at Spiti came to know about this mishap on 27th September 2021, when two members of the ill-fated team managed to reach Kaza and requested them for rescue operations for the other stranded members.
According to a press note released by the Deputy Commissioner Neeraj Kumar, the rescue team will start from Ka village in the Pin valley on 28th September and reach Khamengar Glacier in three days’ time with overnight halts at Chank Thango and Dhar Thango.
In an exclusive conversation with Dream Wanderlust regarding this rescue operation, ITBP inspector Vivek Singh said, "as Heli rescue is not possible in this region at this altitude, the rescue team will start tomorrow at about 3am by vehicle and around 5am they will start trekking from Ka." He also added, "the stranded team members were doing fine and had sufficient rations with them."
Mountaineer Anindya Mukherjee expressed grief over the demise of the two members saying, "the morning of 27th September 2021 brought a very shocking and sad news from Spiti. A team from Arette Mountaineering Foundation, led by experienced mountaineer and explorer Debasish Bardhan, whom I personally know very well, was trying to open a new route to connect Lahul Himalaya and Spiti Himalaya. They had successfully completed the traverse of the Bara Sighri Glacier and had then crossed Parahio Col to get down to the Khamengar Valley and had entered the Khamengar Gorge. They had encountered a series of abseils while descending the gorge. What I have heard, that while rappelling the abseils, two senior members got completely exhausted. One member perished on the 24th and the other on the 25th of September 2021. One of the young members brought the news all the way to Kaza and organised the rescue operation. The success of opening this new route is now a bit shadowed by this unfortunate incident". He also said, "Rescue operations in the Himalayas are always difficult and sometimes it is too slow to be called a rescue operation. Here, it will take the rescue team two-three days to reach the spot. Hope, stranded members remain safe till then and they come back to safety soon."
Wing Commander Amit Chowdhury of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation has requested Additional District Magistrate, Kaza to make all necessary arrangements for the rescue operation and the recovery of the mortal remains of those who have died.
Debraj Dutta of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation at West Bengal, who had initiated communications with the administrators at Spiti was hopeful about the success of the rescue operation.
