A search operation for eight people, including seven trekkers, missing on the Kedartal trek in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district resumed on Tuesday morning after bad weather forced its suspension a day earlier, officials said.
The Uttarkashi district disaster management office said the rescue team informed it at 7.30 am that the operation had resumed following an improvement in weather conditions.
Teams from the Uttarakhand Police’s State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) are carrying out the search amid difficult terrain and challenging weather conditions.
On Monday evening, the SDRF reported finding a tent and other belongings at an altitude of around 4,000 metres.
Meanwhile, the Uttarkashi Forest Division has suspended the issuance of permits for treks at altitudes of 4,000 metres and above until weather conditions improve.
“ We are currently not issuing permits for treks above 4,000 metres as weather conditions are not favourable. Permits will be issued once the weather improves. The restriction will remain in force until further orders,” Divisional Forest Officer Jeevan Mohan Dagade said.
The restriction covers routes such as the Lamkhaga Pass and Trikhanta treks.
On October 27, a group of 13 people, comprising seven trekkers and six support staff, set out from Gangotri for the Kedartal trek. They were scheduled to return on October 29 but could not make their way back due to adverse weather, snowfall and glaciers blocking the route, officials said.
On October 30, the trekking agency dispatched a team of porters and guides, who cleared a stretch of around six km.
The District Emergency Operations Centre said on Saturday that four members of the group had been found safe, while eight remained stranded beyond Bhojkhadak following an avalanche.
A 10-member National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team left Uttarkashi for Gangotri on October 31 to assist in the rescue operation. Teams comprising two Forest Department personnel, seven members of the trekking agency and six SDRF personnel were also deployed towards Kedartal.
An SDRF team from Gangotri reached the Kedartal area for reconnaissance on November 1. However, heavy snowfall and adverse weather conditions hampered the operation, officials said.
(With inputs from PTI)