Kullu: Trekkers risk life by not adhering to advisories

Abhinav Vashisht
Kullu, February 16

Despite repeated warnings and advisories issued by the district administration to regulate trekking in various areas in Kullu, many enthusiasts risk their lives by setting out on trekking without proper equipment or trained guides. Sometimes, the enthusiasts set out for trekking in adverse weather conditions. Many trekkers have lost their lives on various routes in Kullu district.

Adventure gone wrong

• Akhil Chadha of Delhi mysteriously disappeared during the Hamta Pass trek on April 10, 2018. His body was recovered on April 17.
• The body of a missing trekker, Aman Awasthi (23), of Delhi was found after a month in Malana on April 20, 2018
• The body of a trekker from Maharashtra was found in Ming Thach near Grahan village of the Parbati valley on October 3, 2018
• Tamil Nadu’s Manoj Rathinam was found dead on the route beyond Kheer Ganga in the Parbati valley on April 6, 2018
• Justin Alexander Shetler (35) from the US, who had gone missing in the Parbati valley on August 22, 2016, was never traced

Search and rescue teams have been formed by locals to provide help to stranded trekkers. Chappe Ram Negi, founder of Negi’s Himalayan Adventure Search Rescue and Investigation at Kasol, has been involved in many search and rescue operations in the area. Besides rescuing many people in the Parbati valley, he has helped in recovering 50 bodies of missing trekkers and other tourists.

Three tourists, who had gone for trekking in the Hamta area near Manali, were rescued by the police in the wee hours on January 27. Ayasha from Delhi and Kalol Mukherjee of West Bengal were rescued after two days by the police from the Chanderkhani jungle near Malana village in the valley on June 4, 2019. A group of seven students from Sangrur district of Punjab, who had lost their way during a trekking expedition to the Chanderkhani peak, was rescued after three days with the help of a helicopter on March 13, 2016.

Negi said tourists from Israel were equipped with GPS equipment and they could be tracked easily in case of any exigency. The equipment was provided by their insurance companies which was returned by tourists after their tour ended. He said such a system could be developed here as well to ensure safety of trekkers. He said only registered and trained guides should be allowed for trekking expeditions and police should be informed before venturing for trekking.

Two Austrian trekkers were rescued as they activated the SOS (Save Our Souls) system provided by the local travel company as the system sent distress signal to their embassy at Delhi after they were lost in the forest while on a trekking expedition in the GHNP region in Banjar subdivision on June 30, 2016.

The district administration had launched a website with the state-of-the-art Geo Tracking application on August 22, 2017, to find and rescue stranded tourists. However, the plans of the administration could not fructify and the website was never put to use.