Darjeeling, May 29: The Indian
Mountaineering Foundation today suggested that all expedition teams
planning to scale peaks outside India should inform the apex national
body for better co-ordination in case of accidents such as the one in
which Chanda Gayen went missing.
Col (retd) H.S.
Chauhan, the president of the foundation, said today: “I would suggest
that all Indian expeditions should keep us in the loop so that there can
be better co-ordination as we have partners (across the globe). In
Nepal we work with Nepal Mountaineering Association.”
Chauhan was
speaking on the sidelines of an event to mark the 100th birth
anniversary of Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, the first man to climb Mt Everest
along with Sir Edmund Hillary. The event was held at the Himalayan
Mountaineering Institute. All expeditions in India have to be okayed by
the IMF.
But two veteran mountaineers said it was not mandatory for climbers to inform the IMF about expeditions abroad.
Basanta Singha Roy said the IMF had no role to play in expeditions in foreign countries.
“It’s primarily
the (private) agency’s responsibility to carry out the rescue operation.
It’s being paid for that. I have no idea as to how the IMF can chip in a
rescue mission in a foreign country. If any accident happens on Everest
or Kanchenjungha, the country’s tourism ministry is there to look after
it,” he said.
“One can send a
formal intimation to the IMF before an expedition in India. But, it’s
not a rule. Now, if anything goes wrong during the expedition, the
climber’s family has to bear the cost of the rescue mission. The
respective state government can also chip in. And at that juncture, if
the IMF is intimated and provided with the expenditure of the rescue
mission, it can as well launch a search drive,” he said.
Jamling Tenzing
Norgay Sherpa, son of Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, also said climbers do not
have to seek permission from Indian authorities for expeditions abroad.
“We simply go to
the country concerned and apply for the permit to climb there. In Nepal,
we have to get the permission from their tourism ministry if the peaks
are higher than 8,000m, and if it is lower we have go get permission
from the Nepal Mountaineering Association. Climbers usually go through
agencies (private companies) and they do the needful,” Jamling said.
Since most
expeditions in Nepal are managed by private agencies, organising rescue
missions is the responsibility of these private tour agencies.(TT)