Tragedy in hills

 

 

BY N J RAVI CHANDER  

 

 

The recent tragedy in Sahastra Tal in Uttarakhand has come as a bolt from the blue to the SBI fraternity in Bengaluru. Among the dead were Asha Sudhakar and Anita Rangappa, our colleagues, who perished during the 11-day mountaineering expedition. Both were avid mountaineers who had participated in several climbing expeditions in the Himalayas. Asha was also decorated with the Dasara Award in 1986 by the Government of Karnataka for her mountaineering feats. Fortunately, her husband, S Sudhakar, the joint secretary of the Karnataka Mountaineering Association (KMA), survived the trek. They were among a group of twenty-two skilled trekkers from Karnataka. Everything went as planned until June 3, when the trip took a disastrous turn. The nine fatalities also included computer science engineer Venkatesh Prasad and environmentalists and relief volunteers Sujata and Vinayak Mungarwadi. From the moment they crossed paths in college, Sujatha and Vinayak were made for each other. They shared the same birthday: October 3. The couple was inseparable in life, and their bond endured even in death. The group began trekking on May 30 from Sila village and covered Gairu, Kush Kalyan, Kyarki Bugyal, and Lambtal until June 2. On June 3, they started their trek from Lambtal to Saha-stra Tal peak and were supposed to return to Lambtal. On June 4, they were supposed to trek down from Lambtal to Kyarki Bugyal and eventually return to Bengaluru on June 8. Tragedy struck on the afternoon of June 3.

 

The trekkers reached the Sahastra Tal summit and were returning to the base camp when the weather worsened. What started with snow eventually turned into a blizzard, causing a whiteout. It lasted over four hours, and the trekkers couldn’t identify those standing beside them. That evening, the biting cold escalated abruptly to an intolerable degree. Unable to find their way back, they decided to stay where they were until the storm blew over. Attempts to seek help proved futile because of the absence of network connectivity. As darkness descended, the situation deteriorated, making it more challenging to ensure survival. They took shelter under a giant boulder, but exhaustion, hypothermia, and insufficient oxygen took a toll. Four of them collapsed, and five others perished the next day. Devastated and depressed, the survivors sat for 36 hours with the lifeless bodies of their nine comrades. The harsh weather swept away the trekkers' raincoats, gloves, and jackets. Those who returned to the camp could not have a meal because of the freezing weather.

 

We understand the trekkers relied on the light from their mobile torch to maintain communication and provide mutual support throughout the night. They snacked on dried fruits from time to time to ease their hunger. Unfortunately, the frozen water bottles exacerbated the situation. The Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) received the first distress call at 7.30 pm on June 4, and they then alerted officials from Karnataka and Uttarakhand. The operations took off only by 5 am on Wednesday, June 5, and the rescue teams got most of the survivors to a safe area by afternoon. Karnataka's Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda deserves a pat on the back for his commendable supervision of the rescue efforts, successful retrieval of the bodies, and repatriation of the remains. Nature can sometimes be brutal and unforgiving. However, this tragic event shows the ephemeral and unpredictable nature of life. May their souls find everlasting tranquillity and bliss.