Search and Rescue operations for Tapi Mra & Team ends, informs DC, Seppa.

DC Seppa on Wednesday, September 21, releases a press statement regarding the missing mountaineer Tapi Mra from Arunachal Pradesh after family members seeks for another search and rescue operation.  

On 27th August 2022, DC East Kameng was informed by Shri Tagit Sorang that Mountaineer Tapi Mra & team could not be traced for a week or so and hence requested to look for details.

Post which, the EAC Chayangtajo was immediately directed to gather details of the same from Longchu and neighbouring villages.

After receiving the information, the District Administration requisitioned the services of the Indian Army on August 29, 2022, to conduct a search and rescue operation.

Initially, the strategy was to use helicopters to conduct aerial recce and induct a rescue team at the Base Camp for evacuation but due to the adverse weather conditions, the plan was dropped and instead, a foot-based based search and rescue operation was launched by the Indian Army from Veo Village on September 1.

The team comprised of thirty-one (31) Army Personnel and two (02) civil mountaineers (Sh. Tagit Sorang and Sh. Tame Bagang) and was supported by more than 65 porters.

Further, an Incident Response System (IRS) was constituted, and under the Disaster Management Act, services and resources of many district officials were requisitioned for the search and rescue operation. Incident Command posts were created in Veo and Longchu villages.

Executive Magistrates, police personnel, medical staff and other supporting staff were deployed in the villages to assist the foot-based search and rescue operation.

But the foot based search had to be called off due to extreme weather conditions as well as due to the risky foot based search through river bridges.

Apart from these, the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) and Northeast Space Applications Centre (NESAC) were contacted to find clues through satellite imagery but in vain.

On the other hand, the District Administration was in constant consultation with expert geographers and mountaineers who analysed the hazard profile of this region and provided few valuable inputs such as snowfall/rain predictions, risk of floods, avalanches and crevasses, and effect of seismic events in this region etc.

Soon after when the weather started improving, the launch of the aerial search was attempted but called off again for bad weather.

Two local mountaineers, Sh. Taro Hai and Sh. Tame Bagang, was also part of the Army Aviation Base for inducting at the base camp along with the Indian Army personnel.

But soon, Sh. Tame Bagang had to return back to Seppa due to a family emergency and instead, Sh. Taka Tamut and Sh. Kishon Tekseng was inducted at the base camp on 14th September 2022.

After attempting multiple search and rescue operations, there was no positive result. Moreover, due to the extreme weather conditions which were quite risky and life-threatening for the search and rescue operations' team, so it was decided to end both the foot and aerial-based search and rescue operations.