[Bengia Ajum]
In 2011, when a chopper carrying former chief minister late Dorjee Khandu went missing in Tawang, it became big news. The national media relentlessly covered the incident and it was widely flashed in the media, saying that the army had been pressed into service and that the security personnel were carrying out search operations. I, along with a few of the local journalists reached Tawang and found that the ground situation was quite different. It was the local people who were carrying out the search operation, and the security personnel were just aiding them. Finally, it was indeed the local people who located the missing chopper and the bodies of the people in it, including that of the late CM, on 5 May, 2011.
The exact same thing happened in the case of missing Everester Tapi Mra and his assistant Niku Dao. Two earlier search and rescue operations, led by East Kameng DC Pravimal Abhishek Polumatla, failed to yield any result. Despite several appeals by the family members of Mra, the DC did not include local people and kept his trust in the army and the Air Force.
Finally, it was a search and rescue team involving local mountaineers, local porters, and family members of Mra who managed to retrieve the duo’s belongings from Camp 2 of Mt Khayari Satam. This once again shows that local knowledge always helps in such a situation. Obviously, the district administration has to follow some protocols, but it should not have outright rejected the suggestions of the local people.
The local indigenous tribal people know Arunachal much better than these officers and security personnel who are posted in the state for a short duration. The family members of Mra alleged that the East Kameng DC even challenged their appeal for the inclusion of local mountaineers in the search team by questioning, “Are they supermen?”
The result of the search operation conducted at the initiative of Mra’s family speaks for itself.
This incident is an eye-opener for the state government. It should learn from it and develop a proper protocol for any such search and rescue operation in the future. The search and rescue operation initiated by the family of Mra was delayed due to bureaucratic hurdles and a lack of set guidelines. The search and rescue could have been done much better had the DC used common sense and trusted the local knowledge. Also, as the mountains of Arunachal start to attract the attention of mountaineers from across the world, there is a need for proper guidelines in this regard.
The search and rescue operation for Mra and Dao has been called off due to harsh weather and most probably it will resume only next summer. No one knows the fate of the two missing persons. One can only hope that the revered Mt Khayari Satam is taking good care of the duo. Till then, the whole state will continue to hope against hope.
