Itanagar: An Indian Army helicopter was unable to join the search operation for Arunachal Pradesh’s missing Everesters Tapi Mra and Niku Dao due to inclement weather.
The helicopter, which took off from Tezpur in Assam, was unable to fly to Seppa in East Kameng district due to bad weather over Nechiphu in West Kameng district in Arunachal Pradesh.
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The Army will make another attempt to join the search operation on August 16, if weather permits. The search team, led by Everester Tagit Sorang, has reached the advance camp on the way to Mt Khyarii Satam.
The team will proceed to Camp-2 on Tuesday to resume the search mission on August 16, subject to weather conditions.
The Defence ministry has given approval for airlifting 11 members of the search team in the service helicopters “on a payment basis,” as requested by the Arunachal Pradesh government.
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The Indian Army had suggested to the district administration to approach the Indian Air Force for advanced light helicopters (ALH) to airlift the team from Seppa to Lada.
“From Seppa to Lada, the IAF ALHs will be utilized, and the move from Lada to base camp will be undertaken utilizing the Army’s Cheetah helicopters,” the Indian Army said.
The search operation for Mra and Dao has resumed after nine months. The duo went missing on August 17, 2022, while attempting to scale Mt Khyarii Satam in East Kameng district.
They remain untraceable since then, despite several attempts having been made by the Indian Army and the mountaineers’ relatives to trace their whereabouts.
The 18-member search team, including Everesters Tagit Sorang and Tame Bagang, along with two Everester Sherpas from Nepal – Gelje Sherpa and Furi Sherpa – and mountaineer Taru Hai has reached the advance camp.
The East Kameng DC is the incident commander, and the youth affairs department is supervising the operation.