Amid reports of 45 students of IIT Roorkee stranded in Hampta Pass near Manali, another group of 19 students of the same institute are reportedly lost on their way on Ghuttu-Ghansali trekking route near Kedarnath in Uttarakhand on Tuesday.
The local administration of Rudraprayag district came to know about it on Tuesday late evening after which two teams of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) were dispatched for rescue operations on Wednesday morning.
According to SDRF official Praveen Alok, “The SDRF was informed about the group by Rudraprayag superintendent of police on Tuesday evening.”
“As per the initial information, the trekking group comprises 19 students of IIT Roorkee along with some staffers and porters who were accompanying them on the trekking route of Ghuttu-Ghansali. So far, SDRF has little information about them except the fact that they were two days behind their trekking schedule and lost on their way,” he said.
“They were stranded on the route due to heavy rainfall in the last few days in the state. The teams which have left from Sonprayag near Kedarnath and another from Ghansali in Tehri Garhwal district, would soon track them down and rescue them. We are hopeful that by Wednesday evening the group would be rescued,” he said.
“Another team with expertise in mountain rescue operations is also on alert in Sahashtradhara near Dehradun in case the two teams find it difficult to track them.”
{{/usCountry}}“Another team with expertise in mountain rescue operations is also on alert in Sahashtradhara near Dehradun in case the two teams find it difficult to track them.”
{{/usCountry}}In the other incident, 45 students of IIT Roorkee were stranded in Hampta Pass near Manali in Himachal Pradesh.
What might be of some respite for the family members of the stranded students is that, chief minister of Himachal Pradesh Jai Ram Thakur said, "The group of 50 trekkers, which includes IIT Roorkee students, is safe in Sissu area of Lahaul-Spiti.”