GUWAHATI:
Inclement weather over the past few days has impacted the search and rescue operation to find two mountaineers from Arunachal Pradesh who went missing during an expedition close to the India-China border on August 17.
“Arunachal Everester Tapi Mra and his assistant Niku Dao went missing during an expedition trip to Mount Khyarisattam. They have been missing for the past seven days. We’ve called Indian Army helicopters but the operation has been stopped due to bad weather,” Arunachal Pradesh sports minister Mama Natungtold told media persons on August 31.
According to the latest information from East Kameng deputy collector, defence spokesperson of 4 Corps headquarters, Tezpur Lt Col AS Walia, said the two members of the expedition have been untraceable since August 17 as reported by the six-member expedition team, who reached Seppa from their expedition base camp on evening August 29.
On August 30, the state government requisitioned an Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter to join the search operation to locate and rescue the mountaineer, however, the air operation was put to a halt as the IAF helicopter could not fly due to inclement weather conditions.
Mra, who is the first Arunachalee to conquer Mount Everest, has been missing for the last eight days after he went to scale the snow-capped mountain of Kyarisatam in East Kameng district.
A rescue team led by Everesters Tagit Sorang and Tame Bagang along with 15 others, is already on the mission to rescue the mountaineer.
Adventure Promotion Officer, Directorate of Youth Affairs, Tapi Mra was on an official expedition.
The 37-year-old mountaineer conquered Mount Everest on May 21, 2009, and is a popular figure in climbing and scaling mountains.
The expedition had 13 members, including two mountaineers and 11 porters. According to a porter who reached Seppa on August 29, both Mra and Dao started from Camp II (located around 15,000 ft above sea level) on August 17. But they have been incommunicado ever since.
East Kameng deputy commissioner Pravimal Abhishek Polumatla convened a meeting with members of the East Kameng Social Welfare & Cultural Organisation, Gaon Buras and Everester Tame Bagang, and prepared a search and rescue operation plan.
Walia said that after the Arunachal government has now sought help from the Indian Army’s Tezpur-based Gajraj Corps, the army has already mounted the operation. Two Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) and two Cheetah helicopters have been put on standby.
These choppers will be used for aerial reconnaissance of the area with one of the team members onboard once the weather clears, said a statement from the army on Wednesday morning, he said.
Army’s highly trained special forces and Arunachal Scouts teams are also being employed for ground search operations in the challenging terrain of the expedition area.
Due to the remote location of the mountain and lack of communication network, information about the missing mountaineers reached Seppa, the headquarters of East Kameng district, on August 29, 12 days after they went missing from an altitude of around 15,000 ft.