[ Bengia Ajum ]
SARIA, 6 Aug: The foot-based search operation for missing Everester Tapi Mra and his associate Niku Dao, which started on Saturday from Seppa in East Kameng district, reached Saria village on Sunday.
The team, which left from Veo village on early Sunday morning, is expected to reach Saria top by Monday evening.
As per the plan, the team is expected to reach Yorchum camp, which is located in between Veo and the base camp of Mt Khyarii Satam, on Tuesday.
The 34-member search team includes mountaineers, technical experts, family members and porters. The team comprises Everester Tagit Sorang (team leader), Everester Tame Bagang (in-charge of porters & ration), two experts from Nepal – Everester Gelje Sherpa (in-charge of metal detector) and Everester Furi Sherpa (coordinator for metal detector) – mountaineer Taru Hai (in-charge of equipment), mountaineer Tana Lui Tamin (in-charge of utensils), mountaineer Nangchung Rava (in-charge of first-aid), family member Taman Mra (in-charge of camera), Dao’s family member Dodum Nampe (in-charge of cooking), and scientist Timothy Dulom from the Arunachal Pradesh Space Application Cell (in-charge of drone, VSAT, generator, and weather report).
Speaking to this daily, Sorang informed that the team plans to reach the base camp on 12 August. “From the base camp to the glacier area, it takes another three days. If the weather is good, we will try to reach the glacier and search in the area where their belongings were found last time. Our focus is the area around Camp 2 of Mt Khyarii Satam,” said Sorang.
Earlier, East Kameng DC Sachin Rana advised the team to “take extreme safety measures, considering the difficult condition of Mt Khyarii Satam.”
A two-member team of the Tagin Cultural Society, comprising its secretary-general Tuter Dulom and HRD secretary Dosh Dasi, is camping in Seppa to coordinate with the search operation.
“The district administration is offering all the logistic help. Its cooperation is appreciated,” said Dasi.
Mra and Dao went missing in Mt Khyarii Satam in East Kameng district in August 2022, when they were on a mission to climb the revered mountain. In September 2022, the ground search operation for the duo was called off by the state government.
Mra’s family later constituted a team, led by Everester Tagit Sorang, to carry out a search and rescue operation. In October 2022, the team managed to find the belongings of the two mountaineers, offering a ray of hope. However, the operation had to be cut short owing to deteriorating weather conditions in Mt Khyarii Satam.
