July 1, 2013: On the night of June 17, as buildings below Uttarakashi market started tumbling into the raging Bhagirathi, Colonel Ajay Kothiyal took stock of the resources at his disposal. The Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, the autonomous institute under the ministry of defence where Kothiyal took charge as principal in April, is a few hundred metres above the river, and overlooks Uttarakashi town, home to the ancient Kashi Vishwanath temple and an important pilgrimage centre enroute to the Gangotri temple, which lies 120 km to the north.

Born in the Garhwal Himalayas and raised in an army family, Kothiyal is an accomplished mountaineer, and knows well the region and the misery that is visited upon its people when clouds burst in the mountains. While he wanted to move swiftly to help, all of his instructors and staff were up in the mountains, where they had taken a group of 78 girls as part of the regular training courses the institute runs. The group returned safely on the night of 18 June. By this time, it was clear that the death and devastation that was occurring along the valley was unprecedented.

By the next day, Kothiyal had managed to assemble a group of 109 people, including instructors, the institute's porters, local boys and girls who had trained at the institute, and a group of local boys he had been training as part of a personal initiative to help them gain entry into the army. He divided them into five groups, each comprising three to four instructors, 10 local youth, five porters and one nursing assistant.

They packed mountaineering equipment, medicines, wireless sets and supplies, and launched into the mountains. Along an 80-km stretch from Uttarakashi to Harsil, Kothiyal's team was the first on the scene. When they ended the operation eight days later, the team, which eventually saw 120 people being deployed, had rescued 6,500 pilgrims, many of them old and infirm.

"When we reached, the situation was really bad," says Jagmohan Singh Rawat, an instructor who participated in the rescue. "People were terrified, hungry and exhausted. People were just lying down wherever they were stuck -- they didn't have the energy or the presence of mind to help themselves. Many of them pleaded with us to just let them die in peace. Some were really angry and started abusing us, thinking we are from the administration. They had received no help for three days and they had just witnessed the worst calamity of their lives." 'Nehru Mounting Team' The cloud burst and flashfloods that hit the upper reaches of Uttarakhand on June 16 caused a deluge in the Bhagirathi, Mandakini and Alaknanda, the rivers that originate, respectively, in Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath, and merge to become the Ganga downstream at Devprayag. Along with Yamunotri, the three temples form the Char Dham, which Hindu pilgrims visit annually in great numbers.

The greatest devastation and loss of lives has been caused in the Kedarnath valley. In the Gangotri valley that runs parallel, separated by a range of mountains, there has been tremendous destruction to property and infrastructure. The stretch between Uttarakashi and Harsil are the worst affected in this valley, where roads have vanished into the river at many places.

Kothiyal's boys spread out into the 80-km stretch between Uttarakashi and Harsil. Wherever roads had merged into the river in massive landslides, they cut a path through the mountains. Then, they began the difficult rescue, motivating tired pilgrims to keep going, helping carry their luggage and, in some cases, carrying them on their shoulders and the injured on stretchers. When one team got a group of pilgrims safely over a mountain trek, the next team took over from them.

In Gangnani, a 22-year-old pregnant woman, Babita, had started bleeding profusely due to a miscarriage. NIM's resident nursing assistant, Kavita Meher, 21, administered first aid and the team carried the woman on a stretcher 10 km through steep mountain paths to the nearest medical centre.

Neelam Agnihotri and Mamata Rawat, two of the institute's young trainees, carried a 50-year-old woman from Indore and walked 8 km to the helipad at Maneri. "When we spotted her, she was barely breathing," says 22-year-old Agnihotri. "We gave her glucose.

She was so scared. Even when the helicopter came, she just held on to us, refusing to let go." At many places, local restaurants had started cashing in on the stranded pilgrims, charging steep prices for food. Once the NIM team, known as 'Nehru Mounting Team', started their rescue mission, they organised the villagers and put an end to the practice. Within a day, the villagers opened community kitchens, serving hot meals to the victims. "Once we took the lead, then the villagers helped in a big way," says instructor Dasarath Rawat. "Their own homes were threatened by landslides, but they ignored that and started helping the pilgrims."

Over eight days, Kothiyal's team trekked up and down steep mountains, fixed ropes on rocky terrain and reassured pilgrims. They managed to rescue 6,500 pilgrims, easing the burden on the army and other agencies. He also sent another team to rescue 46 foreign nationals who were stranded at an ashram up in the mountains.

"I think our mission showed what a small group of trained, motivated, young people can do," Kothiyal told ET. "This is a model that can be replicated throughout Uttarakhand, not just in times of crisis, but also for the region's development."

Kothiyal has climbed Mount Everest, Manaslu and Nanda Devi. But his mountaineering exploits didn't keep him from his soldiering. He has been decorated with Vishisht Seva Medal, Shaurya Chakra and Keerti Chakra. The last, India's second highest gallantry medal, came his way for an operation that eliminated terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. During this crisis, he was the closest to Rambo these hills had.

Source: The Economic Times, DT. July 1, 2013.