CM Suvendu Adhikari
Bankura : Bengal govt has stepped up coordination with the Uttarakhand administration to trace five trekkers from Bankura missing in the snowbound higher reaches of the Himalayas since last week, with CM Suvendu Adhikari intervening to expedite rescue efforts and the state preparing to send a team to Uttarakhand.
Tapas’s sister, Sita, said her brother and his friends regularly travelled to Uttarakhand for trekking. “My brother told me there was no internet and phone connection along the trek route and that he would call me only after reaching the destination. Bankura SP VS Satish Pasumarthi said police personnel had visited the families of all five missing trekkers. Villagers said the youths came from financially modest backgrounds and worked at small factories and shops but saved money throughout the year to pursue their passion for travelling and trekking.
The Government of West Bengal is in constant touch with the Uttarakhand Government and their State Disaster Response Force (SDRF). So we didn’t panic when he didn’t call us, but after we saw the news about the avalanche and the missing trekkers on TV, we got worried. Bankura BJP MLA Niladri Sekhar Dana also visited the families and assured them that the administration was coordinating with Uttarakhand.
In an X post on Tuesday, Adhikari said: “Deeply concerned about the five young trekkers from Bankura… who have gone missing during the Kedartal trek in Uttarakhand following severe weather and heavy snowfall.