KOLKATA: Arrangements are being finalized to fly back home the bodies of at least four trekkers from Bengal — who died in an avalanche in Uttarakhand last week — at the earliest. The deceased, whose remains are supposed to reach the city, are Tanumay Tiwari, Sourav Ghosh, Bikash Makal and Shibayan Das.
While Ghosh and Makal were the residents of Bishnupur in South 24 Parganas, Tiwari and Das hailed from Kolkata. While 10 trekkers from the state have been confirmed dead, at least six others are still missing.
Thirty-one-year-old Mithun Dari, also from Bishnupur, who had a narrow escape during the expedition that killed other six members of his trekking group, reached Kolkata late on Sunday. He had been under treatment at a hospital in Harsil after being rescued by the army. On Sunday, Dari and his brother Manoj took a flight to Delhi from Dehradun and then another one to Kolkata.
Speaking to TOI from Dehradun, Dari said that a foot injury, which left him immobilized, saved his life. “We were trekking back from Chitkul and had reached the Lamkhaga pass at an altitude of 18,000 feet on October 17 when I fractured my right leg. The other six members of my group carried me to a tent and left me in charge of sherpas as they proceeded towards the nearest army camp to seek help for me. They were caught in the avalanche on their way and were buried under the snow,” said Dari.
Dari had left Kolkata on October 11 and reached Harsil the next day. The group started their trek on October 14.
Dari spent four days at the camp and ran out of food and water. “I stared at certain death even as I realized that the members of my group have been killed. I had almost left all hopes of survival, until an army helicopter reached my tent on October 21. It carried me to a hospital in Harsil,” Dari recounted. He added that he would probably never trek again.
Meanwhile, according to the officials of the South 24 Parganas district administration, the bodies of Ghosh and Makal were taken by road to Delhi from Uttarkashi. From the capital, the remains are to be flown back to Kolkata. “Arrangements are ready to fly back their remains. We expect at least four bodies to reach Kolkata in the wee hours of Monday. Search operations are on to locate the missing persons and we hope that we will be able to trace them soon,” said Bishnupur 1 BDO Subir Kumar Dandapat.
According to state government sources, the bodies of Makal, Tiwari and Ghosh are likely to be flown to Kolkata from Delhi on Monday. However, the official was unsure if the body of Sadhan Kumar Basak, another trekker and a resident of Thakurpukur, who was killed, will also be flown to the city.
The state government officials said that they are in constant touch with Uttarakhand to trace the other missing trekkers. Efforts are also on from the end of the Bengal government to rescue the stranded tourists from the state.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/uttarakhand-4-trekkers-bodies-set-to-reach-city/articleshow/87244672.cms
