Rotary club of Pune, Giripremi to honour mountaineers, organisations involved in rescue ops

Rotary club of Pune and Giripremi, a mountaineering organisation, have organised an award ceremony on November 16 to honour individual rescuers and organisations

Rotary club of Pune and Giripremi, a mountaineering organisation, have organised an award ceremony on November 16 to honour individual rescuers and organisations with the vocational service award for their contribution to the field of rescue and disaster management in Maharashtra.

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Mukund Chiplunkar, president, Rotary Club of Pune, said, “We have selected seven organisations and six individuals who will be honoured for carrying out rescue work in challenging terrain while risking their own lives.”

The awardee organisations and individuals are affiliated to the Maharashtra Mountaineering Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MMRCC). MMRCC is a dedicated rescue coordination organisation founded by the Guardian Giripremi Institute of Mountaineering (GGIM).

Under MMRCC, a 24X7 helpline number to carry out rescue and relief work in the hilly regions of Maharashtra is operational throughout the year. Several local organisations and individuals are part of MMRCC and have carried out more than 300 rescues and relief works in the last three years since the launch of helpline in 2016.

Umesh Zirpe, veteran mountaineer and convener, Giripremi, said “Several local organisations have been carrying out rescue and relief work for the past several years. MMRCC brought them together on a single platform. It has helped organisations and mountaineers in streamlining the rescue work. These mountaineers are selfless and deserve praise. Rotary club’s initiative to felicitate them will boost the morale of these rescuers and organisations.”

Air Marshal Bhushan Gokhale (retired) will be the chief guest whereas Naval Kishore Ram, district collector, Pune, will chair the event.