Indian Mountaineering Foundation seeks Uttarakhand authorities’ nod to retrieve missing climbers’ bodies from Pindari glacier route

Pithoragarh: The Indian Mountaineering Foundation, 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.

Letters seeking permission in this regard were written to Uttarakhand Chief Secretary and Pithoragarh District Magistrate VK Jogdande by the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF), a press release by the Foundation said here.

Bodies of five of the eight-member team were spotted by IAF helicopters near an unscaled peak close to the Nanda Devi East peak on 3 June.

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 British who were lifted from the base camp recently. 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,” the Foundation complained.

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.

Jogdande said the administration ran an expedition to retrieve the bodies with the help of the Indian Air Force (IAF) for three days continuously, but due to adverse weather conditions, no success was achieved. “We have chalked out a plan to retrieve the bodies by running a manual expedition from Pindari glacier side, situated towards the western side of the spot, with the help of ITBP and SDRF mountaineers soon,” he said.

When asked to comment on the IMF’s request, the district magistrate said the administration cannot risk the lives of more people. “The expedition to retrieve the bodies will be run through authorised and expert mountaineers from ITBP,” he said.