Assam mountaineer killed in U’khand avalanche laid to rest

Guwahati: Mountaineer from Guwahati Deepshikha Hazarika, whose body was recovered three days after she had gone missing with several others after being hit by an avalanche on Draupadi ka Danda-II in Uttarakhand on October 4, was buried following Christian rituals in Guwahati’s Adingiri hill in Maligaon.
Assam Mountaineering Association (AMA) members and her fellow mountaineers, along with her relatives, paid tribute to the young climber.
Her father Golap Hazarika said, “Our relationship was different. She was like my mother and I was like her son. She took care of me like a mother. Her loss has created a vacuum in my life.”
Her body was recovered by the rescue teams above 16,000 ft in the peak on Friday. It was brought to Delhi and handed over to the Assam House authorities. On Sunday, her body was brought to Guwahati from Delhi. The Kamrup (Metro) district administration had made transportation arrangements for the body from the Guwahati airport.
Deepshikha was part of the 41-member group, of which 34 were trainee mountaineers and seven instructors, of the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering. They had taken part in an advanced mountaineering course that commenced on September 14. After successfully completing the rock-climbing training, the team had moved to the mountains for teraining at high altitude and met with the avalanche.
AMA chief advisor Satyen Sarma said, “We have lost a bright mountaineer. We hope no one faces such a fate in future. We had lost mountaineer Rohini Kumar Bhuyan on mount Kedar Dome peak in 1979.”