Monday, June 15, 2015

India's 1st high altitude rescue team in Uttarakhand

DEHRADUN: With a 16-member team of State Disaster Response Force successfully climbing the Mount Bhagirathi II (6512 m) peak in record 10 days, the Uttarakhand police have now set their sights on establishing a high-altitude search and rescue team, the first in the country.

The SDRF contingent was led by inspector general of police (IG) Garhwal, Sanjay Gunjyal accompanied by SDRF commandant P Renuka Devi and deputy commandant Navneet Singh Bhullar.

"A total of 24 personnel were part of the contingent but only 16 climbed the Bhaigirati II summit located at a height of 21,364 feet in Uttarkashi district. It was the first successful mountaineering expedition carried out by any department in the Uttarakhand government," Gunjyal told TOI.

He added that the special high-altitude search and rescue team was being formed under the aegis of SDRF and the personnel were successfully given training in the Himalayan areas during the expedition. "Uttarakhand police will be first police force in the country to have such a specialized team. It will be a dedicated team to carry out search and rescue operations in case of a mountaineering expedition accident, natural disasters or during pressing circumstances at high-altitude places in Uttarakhand," Gunjyal said.

For showing exemplary act of human nature during the expedition, SDRF leadership have decided to recommend the name of Ravi Chauhan for Jeevan Raksha Padak for lifting a contingent member who fell ill due to excessive height over his shoulders and carrying him 2,000 metres to the base camp.

After successfully completing the expedition, Renuka said, "It was a big learning experience for all of us in SDRF. We emphasized on imparting training to SDRF personnel on high-altitude search and rescue operations. We are going to carry such expeditions regularly so that our men always remain ready for emergency at high-altitude areas."

Importantly, the expedition also proved a platform for raising awareness about the Rett syndrome, also known as 'Silent Angels', which is developmental disorder of brain and affects one in every 10,000 to 15,000 live female births worldwide.

TOI

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