A collaborative effort involving the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Army, Air Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), and forest and revenue departments managed to rescue 13 of them and recover the bodies of the five so far.
The group, consisting of 22 people — 18 from Bengaluru, one from Pune, along with guides and porters from Uttarkashi — set out for the Sahastra Tal summit on May 29 from Silla village in Bhatwari block and were scheduled to return to Silla on June 7.
The team reached the lake after six days around noon on Monday (June 3) afternoon and started descending by afternoon, when they lost their way due to a complete white-out caused by heavy hailstorm, snowfall, and dense fog.
Having left their trekking gear and the support staff at Lamb Tal, the final night halt before the ascent to Sahastra Tal, they had no help, tents, or adequate food supplies, forcing them to seek shelter under the rocks for the entire night, exhausted and battling extreme cold and inclement weather.
The following morning, after the weather cleared, the support staff, which had stayed back at Lamb Tal, initiated the rescue operation, with guide Rajesh Thakur notifying the district administration.
On Tuesday evening, the forest and revenue department teams and local villagers commenced a search for the missing trekkers. By Wednesday morning, aerial rescue operations were coordinated with the army and Air Force, supported by ground teams from the SDRF, ITBP, and experts from the prestigious Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM).
Eleven trekkers were airlifted to Dehradun and Bhatwari, while two were rescued by ground teams and returned to Silla village. Experts believe the chances of survival for the missing four are bleak as rescue operations have halted for the night, and they have no food or gear to deal with extreme conditions for 60 hours.
SDRF commandant Manikant Mishra said, “Due to inclement weather, aerial operations had to be stopped. Efforts to rescue the four missing trekkers from Bengaluru, including Padmanabha Kundapur Krishnamurthy (50), Padmini Hegde (34), Anita Rangappa (60), and Venkatesh Prasad KN (53), will resume once the weather clears tomorrow.” He also identified the deceased trekkers as Sindhu Vakekalam (45), Asha Sudhakar (71), Sujata Mungurwadi (51), Vinayak Mungurwadi (54), and Chitra Praneeth (48), all residents of Bengaluru. All the 13 rescued trekkers are safe.”
Vishnu Semwal, a seasoned Everest veteran and tour operator, said, “The trek lies within the spectrum of moderate to challenging difficulty levels. It demands a high level of experience from trekkers due to its rugged terrain and unpredictable weather conditions. Spanning 35km, the journey traverses through Pilang village, Kushkalyan meadow, Dharamshala meadow, and finally the summit camp; trekkers eventually arrive at Sahastra Tal.”
