Uttarkashi: There was still no trace of Babita Pandey, an MBA student from Ramnagar in Nainital district, on Saturday, the eighth day since she went missing during the Dayara Bugyal trek. At the request of the district administration, a team from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) joined the search operation on Saturday. The team comprises three experienced instructors and two porters.
NIM instructors Govind Rawat, Pawan Panwar and Sarthak Kuriyal, along with porters, left for Dayara Bugyal on Saturday to search the high-altitude areas around the meadow. “An NIM team has been dispatched to conduct search operations in the high-altitude areas around Dayara Bugyal. NIM’s assistance was sought specifically because its team is the most suitable, experienced and well-trained for this task,” said Prashant Arya, district magistrate, Uttarkashi.
A police team led by circle officer (CO) Janak Singh Panwar has been camping at Goi to coordinate the search. Despite a week of intensive efforts, no clues to Babita’s whereabouts have been found, officials said. Teams from forest department, SDRF, NDRF, SOG, ITBP and the Army are also participating in the search operation.
Babita, 24, a resident of Chilkiya village in Ramnagar, had arrived at Dayara Bugyal on May 29 with two companions, Harmanpreet Singh and Harman Pal. She went missing overnight from Goi, a halting point on the trekking route.
The search operation has been expanded to cover higher altitudes and more remote areas. The NIM team, known for its expertise in mountain rescue, is expected to navigate challenging terrain that other teams have not yet accessed. Local authorities remain hopeful that Babita will be found safe, but the prolonged disappearance has raised concerns. The district administration has assured that all possible resources are being deployed to locate her.
About the Author: Ashish Mishra is a journalist from Uttarkashi, a border district of Uttarakhand, who has been doing journalism in Uttarkashi since 2014.
