Nanda Devi Rescue: IMF Seeks Permission to Retrieve Bodies

Indian air force pilots are scouring the Himalayan region to search for the remaining three missing climbers.

Indian air force pilots are scouring the Himalayan peak to search for the remaining three missing climbers.

(Photo: Wikimedia Commons [Licensed under CC BY 4.0])

The Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF), the apex body of mountaineering organisations in the country, has sought the permission of authorities in Uttarakhand to begin an expedition from Pindari glacier side to retrieve the bodies of mountaineers spotted near Nanda Devi East peak, reported PTI.

Letters seeking permission in this regard were written to Uttarakhand Chief Secretary and Pithoragarh District Magistrate VK Jogdande by the IMF, a press release by the foundation said.

IMF Denied Permission Earlier

The IMF said its team of expert mountaineers, with an experience of climbing 5,500 meter-high peaks in the Himalayan region, had requested the district administration on multiple occasions to allow them to run the expedition to retrieve the bodies, but they were denied permission.

“The district magistrate did not even hear out the four Britons who were lifted from the base camp recently,” the Foundation complained.

"Mark, the deputy leader of the expedition, wanted to get down to see if any of the eight-member team survived, but he was not permitted to get down from the helicopter," it alleged.

The IMF added as the bodies were lying towards the western ridge of Nanda Devi, they could be easily retrieved by conducting an expedition from Pindari glacier side in Bageswar district.

Bodies of 5 Climbers to Be Brought Back By Land Route

The bodies of five climbers, who died in avalanche while scaling the Nanda Devi East peak, will be brought back by the land route following IAF helicopters' repeated failure to retrieve them, an official told PTI on Thursday, 6 June.

An eight-member team of mountaineers, including seven foreign nationals, on its way to Nanda Devi East peak in Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand, was reported missing since 25 May.

The bodies of five of them were spotted on 3 June from an Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter during a search and rescue operation. The three other mountaineers are yet to be traced.

Pithoragarh District Magistrate Vijay Kumar Jogdande told PTI the IAF choppers made two attempts on Thursday to retrieve the bodies but the operation failed due to inclement weather and the treacherous terrain.

Accordingly, it has been decided to try to retrieve the bodies through land routes for which a joint team of personnel from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the National Disaster Relief Force and the State Disaster Relief Force has been formed, he said.

But it may take three to four days for the rescue team to to make the preparations and undergo the requisite training before launching the expedition, said Jogdande.

The district magistrate said retrieving the bodies may turn out to be a long process taking up to a month or more owing to difficult geographical terrain.

The Failed Aerial Operation

The IAF helicopters had made three sorties on Wednesday, 5 June as well to retrieve the bodies but their attempts proved futile due to high-speed winds and difficult location where the bodes were spotted.

Three attempts were made for the rescue that was started by Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Indian Air Force on Wednesday morning but had to be halted due to terrain elevations and helicopter limitations. The helicopters had to return to Pithoragarh.

"No bodies have so far been recovered from the three initial sorties this morning," said Vijay K Jogdande, the top government official, reported NDTV.

‘Climbers Knowingly Risked Their Lives’

The eight climbers had gone missing near the Nanda Devi peak in Uttarakhand – who are all now believed to be dead – "knowingly risked" their lives as they changed their plans without any permission, an official told AFP on Tuesday, 4 June.

The group, led by British climber Martin Moran, was given permission to climb the mountain last month. However, their company changed their plan after reaching the second base and decided to attempt "an unclimbed peak", as per the official.

“This mountain range is more difficult to scale than Mount Everest. They knowingly risked their lives after changing their plans without informing the authorities,” the official said in Uttarakhand.

"The permission was granted for Nanda Devi East and any diversion is illegal. We were completely unaware of their changed plan and that turned fatal," he said, preferring to remain anonymous.

On 10 May, twelve mountaineers, including one Indian guide, had embarked on an expedition to Nanda Devi East (Sunanda Devi) and an unclimbed peak adjacent to it. The group had later split into two, of four and eight members.

The eight-member team had last been in touch with base camp on 26 May, according to the four-member team who had remained there, hemmed in by the heavy snowfall and rescued on Sunday.

The eight people, however, did not make it back to the base camp in time and rescue operations were initiated soon after to find them.

Five Bodies Spotted by IAF

Five bodies were spotted in the Himalayas by Indian Air Force pilots on Monday, during their search and rescue operations.

Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) confirmed that bodies and equipment of the climbers were spotted in the open, partially buried in snow, from aerial view during the search.

“Equipment and bodies seen in open/partially buried in snow through aerial view (helicopter) today near the unclimbed peak where the eight missing mountaineers who were reported heading towards Nanda Devi East at around 20,000 feet.”

Indo-Tibetan Border Police

Chetan Pandey, Indian Liaison Officer of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation, is among the eight people who went missing.

On Monday, Vijay Kumar Jogdande, a government official, had told Reuters that the search is now carried out on the assumption that all eight climbers have been killed.

Jogdande told PTI the mountaineers likely perished in an avalanche while ascending an unscaled peak near the Nanda Devi East peak after they failed to scale the latter, he said.

The IAF also tweeted about spotting the bodies.

Jogdande said the bodies were identified using high-resolution photographs taken from a military helicopter just before rescue operations were suspended for the day because of heavy snowfall and high winds, AP reported.

Trekking Was Called Off Due to Avalanche

The rescued four-member team, all British nationals, was led by 44-year old Mark Thomas. The other three members were Zachary Quain (32), Kate Armstone (39), and Ian Wade (45).

Jogdande said trekking has been called off in the region due to inclement weather and an avalanche, AP reported.

"Choppers are carrying out sorties to bring back people from the base camp," he said from Pithoragarh, a town 400 kilometres southwest of Lucknow city.

The route to the Nanda Devi peak begins from the Munsiyari area, about 130 kilometres from Pithoragarh. Mountaineers traverse on foot about 90 kilometres from Munsiyari to the Nanda Devi base camp.

(With inputs from AP, AFP, PTI)