New Delhi: The Indo-Tibetan Border Police(ITBP) has been engaged in rescuing two missing trekkers from Birthi Fall area in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh, officials said here on Wednesday.
According to the 14th Battalion of ITBP, the rescue operation is in progress. The security personnel have spotted the two missing youths and provided them with water and food. Efforts are on to rescue them at the earliest, the officials said.
The duo from Bareilly had gone on Khaliya Top trek when they got stranded at a difficult height near Birthi fall, Munsiyari. They somehow managed to call up for help following which their mobile battery went out of charge.
Twenty-eight-year-old Vishal Gangwar and 30-year-old Santosh Kumar from Bareilly were reported missing on Sunday during their Khaliya Top trek.
“Condition of one of them was bad due to dehydration. Both were stranded for more than 48 hours and were short of food and water. The ITBP team provided them with food and drinking water,” the ITBP spokesperson Vivek Pandey said.
The ITBP team tried to call a rescue helicopter but steep gradient and forest and weather hazards made airlift impossible. The team is in the process of taking the trekkers to safety through the land route and the rescue operation is still on, Pandey further said.
The trek is seven kilometer long and the Khaliya Top is located at an altitude of 14,500 feet. The trek route is covered with dense forest.
As a first responder to any disaster or crisis in the Himalayan region, the ITBP made two teams to search for the trekkers. Finally, they were spotted on Tuesday evening by one of the teams. They were found near the Birthi Fall area which is away from the usual trekking route.
–IANS