By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 6 Jun: Nine trekkers lost their lives on the Sahastratal Trek due to extreme cold when an avalanche struck there two days ago. Although, a swiftly carried out rescue operation saved 13 remaining trekkers but, nevertheless, 9 lives were lost. It is for the second time in less than 2 years that such a major incident has happened. Two years ago, in October 2022, 27 lives were lost of the trekkers who after being hit by avalanche had also lost their way and paid with their lives.
With the global weather change, sudden weather changes are being witnessed in the higher mountainous areas of Uttarakhand more often, raising questions regarding the safety of trekkers.
Speaking to Garhwal Post, noted social activist Anup Nautiyal stressed upon the need to put in place Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) towards ensuring safety of trekkers in the state. He also points out that the SOPs regarding ensuring the fitness and health parameters of the trekkers should be put in place at the earliest and implemented strictly. He reminded that, of the 22 member trekking team, 1 trekker was over 70 years of age, 3 were over 60 years of age and 5 were over 50 years of age. Six trekkers were over 40 years of age while only 3 were over 30 years but less than 40 years of age.
He says that, in view of the global climate changes, extreme weather events are beginning to take greater toll of lives in the Himalayan region.
While Uttarakhand attracts trekkers from across the country and even from abroad every year and it also boasts of being a hub for adventure tourism, the question arises whether there is infrastructure and manpower in place to carry out immediate rescue missions, should anything happens to the trekkers in the high mountains. Of course, SDRF, NDRF and local skill is available in the state and they do engage in rescue missions in case any such need arises but the question is regarding all time deployment of rescuers in the trekking season.
Nautiyal has sought to know whether there is a system in place to verify the fitness and the skills of the trekkers. Majority of the trekkers in the team of 22 that had to be rescued from Sahastratal were over 40 years of age. The question also arises whether the teams coming to the state for high altitude trekking really take time to acclimatise the members before proceeding to risky and higher reaches of the treks. Who is monitoring them?
It would be prudent in view of the two major tragedies in past 2 years that SOPs in this respect are formulated and implemented at the earliest and also to put in place infrastructure for rescue missions if and when required.
