Foreign female climbers were safely rescued from Chaukhambha after three days, rescue operation was conducted under the supervision of CM Dhami, Air Force helicopters carried out the rescue
Another difficult rescue operation was successfully carried out by the relief and rescue teams under the continuous monitoring and guidance of Hon’ble Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. After the rescue operation conducted in coordination with the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority, 02 foreign female climbers trapped in Chaukhambha-03 mountain for three days have been safely rescued this morning. Both the climbers have been taken to Joshimath by the relief and rescue teams. This entire operation was also monitored by the NDMA.
On September 11, two female climbers, Ms. Michelle Theresa Dvorak (23 years), a resident of America and Ms. Fav Jane Manners (27 years), a resident of England, left from Delhi to climb Chaukhambha mountain. On October 03, late in the evening, the District Emergency Operations Center Chamoli received information through the Indian Mountaineering Federation that both foreign women climbers were trapped at an altitude of 6015 meters in Chaukhamba-03 mountain (6995 meters).
The IMF requested the District Administration Chamoli to rescue both the climbers by helicopter. Here, as soon as this matter came to the notice of Hon’ble Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, he directed Secretary Disaster Management and Rehabilitation Vinod Kumar Suman to take immediate action and rescue both the climbers safely. In line with the instructions received from Hon’ble Chief Minister, late in the night on October 03, Additional District Magistrate Chamoli Vivek Prakash sent a letter to the Ministry of Defense, Government of India for the air rescue of both the foreign climbers.
On the request of the state government, the Ministry of Defense sent two Cheetah helicopters of the Indian Air Force from Sarsawa Air Base to Joshimath for the rescue operation the next day i.e. on October 04 in the early morning. A lot of effort was made to find the two climbers on the coordinates provided by the Air Force helicopters, but no contact could be established with them.
Meanwhile, Plan-B was also worked out in case the climbers could not be found through air operation. Secretary Disaster Management and Rehabilitation Vinod Kumar Suman, SDRF IG Riddhim Agarwal and USDMA’s ACEO Operations DIG Rajkumar Negi also planned a land based operation along with relief and rescue teams and the SDRF team was sent to the Advance Base Camp on 05 October. Here, the team of Nehru Mountaineering Institute was also prepared for the land based operation.
The French team played a big role
On 03 October, both the women climbers informed their embassy through pager that they were stuck before Chaukhambha and their luggage had fallen into the ravine, which contained their food and essential equipment related to mountaineering. Without these, they can neither go up nor come down. After this, the Indian Mountaineering Federation informed the District Emergency Operations Center, after which the rescue operation was started by SDRF and Air Force.
Here, the Air Force and SDRF were continuously making efforts on a war footing to search for both the climbers, but their location was not being found. As time was passing, the challenge of rescuing both the women safely was also increasing in front of the relief and rescue teams. On the other hand, on September 18, a team of five mountaineers from France also set out to climb the Chaukhambha mountain. The IMF informed this team about two women trekkers being stranded at an altitude of 6015 meters.
At the same time, the administration gave the possible location of both to the French team and this team also started searching for both the trekkers and on October 05, late in the evening, the team of French mountaineers succeeded in reaching them. They informed the administration that both the women are safe. Then everyone breathed a sigh of relief. He shared his coordinates with the relief and rescue teams and at about 6:45 am on Sunday morning, everyone was safely rescued and taken to Joshimath by the Air Force helicopter. Meanwhile, the SDRF team was also brought back to Joshimath from the advance base camp by helicopter.
Precise strategy and excellent coordination saved lives
USDMA’s ACEO-Operations DIG Rajkumar Negi and his team conducted this rescue operation in a very professional manner with efficient strategy. As soon as SEOC received this information on October 03, they coordinated with the Ministry of Military, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India as well as District Magistrate Chamoli Sandeep Tiwari in the night itself and obtained all the clearances for the rescue from the Government of India and the entire strategy of the rescue operation was made in the night itself. They kept monitoring every moment and whatever help was needed by the relief and rescue teams was provided and whatever problems came up, they were resolved quickly. District Magistrate Chamoli Sandeep Tiwari and his team also did a commendable job in the rescue operation. Till 2.30 am on October 3, his team worked on the strategy of the rescue operation with USDMA’s ACEO-Operations DIG Rajkumar Negi. All the necessary resources were arranged for air and land operations. The result of the efficient strategy and excellent coordination made under the direction of USDMA’s ACEO-Operations DIG Rajkumar Negi and District Magistrate Chamoli Sandeep Tiwari was that the Cheetah helicopters of the Air Force reached Joshimath early next morning and today the stranded trekkers were safely rescued.
USDMA’s ACEO-Operations DIG Rajkumar Negi and his team conducted this rescue operation in a highly professional manner with efficient strategy. As soon as this information was received by SEOC on 03 October, they coordinated with the Ministry of Military, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India as well as District Magistrate Chamoli Sandeep Tiwari and obtained all the clearances for the rescue from the Government of India at night itself and the entire strategy of the rescue operation was prepared at night itself. They kept monitoring every moment and whatever help was needed by the relief and rescue teams was provided and whatever problems came up, they were resolved quickly. District Magistrate Chamoli Sandeep Tiwari and his team also did commendable work in the rescue operation. Till 2.30 am on 03 October, his team worked on the strategy of the rescue operation with USDMA’s ACEO-Operations DIG Rajkumar Negi. All the necessary resources were arranged for air and land operations. The result of the efficient strategy and excellent coordination made under the direction of USDMA’s ACEO-Operations DIG Rajkumar Negi and District Magistrate Chamoli Sandeep Tiwari was that the Cheetah helicopters of the Air Force reached Joshimath early next morning and the stranded trekkers were rescued safely today. The role of District Disaster Management Officer Chamoli Nand Kishore Joshi was also commendable in this entire operation.
Hon’ble Chief Minister praised the relief and rescue teams
Hon’ble Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami kept monitoring this entire operation continuously. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami directed that there should be no shortage of any resources in the rescue operation. All efforts should be made to evacuate the stranded climbers safely. Here, after the successful rescue of both the climbers, the Hon’ble Chief Minister expressed his gratitude to the Hon’ble Prime Minister for the help. He has praised the officials of USDMA as well as the Air Force, SDRF IG Riddhim Agarwal, Chamoli District Magistrate Sandeep Tiwari and his team and the Nehru Mountaineering Institute team for conducting a successful rescue operation.
The entire strategy was made in the WhatsApp group
An efficient strategy is being prepared for the successful operation of such operations in the control room located at the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority. On the initiative of Secretary Disaster Management and Rehabilitation Vinod Kumar Suman, a WhatsApp group was created under the direction of ACEO Implementation, DIG Rajkumar Negi, in which the relief and rescue teams prepared a strategy for the entire rescue operation. What to do when, from where to take clearance, when and from where to start the operation, the strategy for all this was made in this group. Let us tell you that during the disaster in Kedarghati on July 31, a WhatsApp group was also created for the rescue operation, which played an important role in successfully conducting relief and rescue operations.
