IAF chopper rescues 7 trekkers stranded since Friday in Rudraprayag

The Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out a rescue sortie on Monday morning to evacuate the seven trekkers stranded at Rudraprayag’s Pandav Shera area.

Updated on: May 30, 2022, 15:02:03 IST

By Neeraj Santoshi

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DEHRADUN: Seven trekkers stranded at a height of 4,500 metres in Uttarakhand’s Rudraprayag since Friday were evacuated on Monday morning by an Indian Air Force (IAF) chopper. The group sent SOS messages to the administration on Friday evening, saying they were unable to trek back on their own and had run out of food and water.

The group of seven, including four porters, was in the Rudraprayag district’s Pandav Shera area, a trekking point , to make a documentary.

The group was in the district’s Pandav Shera area, a trekking point 40km from the closest road, to make a documentary. Five of them including four porters were from Uttarakhand while the other two were from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

Rudraprayag district’s disaster management officer Nandan Rajwar said the seven were rescued at about 6.30am on Monday.

“Indian Air Force’s Cheetah chopper took them to Gauchar airstrip in Chamoli district from where they were rushed to nearby ITBP (Indo Tibetan Border Police) hospital for a check-up… All of them have been discharged”, Rajwar said.

Ridhim Aggarwal of Uttarakhand’s state disaster response force (SDRF) said a high-altitude rescue team was sent to Rudraprayag in a civil chopper on Saturday but the chopper was not able to carry out the rescue operation at such a height.

Aggarwal, a deputy inspector general of police-rank officer, said an ÌAF chopper was subsequently requisitioned on Sunday and conducted a recce of the area. But it also could not carry out rescue operations due to adverse weather conditions. The IAF chopper made the second attempt early on Monday.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More

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