A 23-year-old Bangalore-based techie, who had been to Pehalgam for a mountaineering course, is stranded atop a hill in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, for the past four days.
Preeti Madhukar Hegde, an avid trekker and nature enthusiast, was on a weeklong mountaineering course in the Himalayas, organised by the Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering and Winter Sports, Pehalgam. Ms. Preeti left the city on August 28 and was on her way back home via Srinagar, when the city got flooded.
Her father, Madhukar Hegde, was a bundle of nerves on Monday, as his daughter has been incommunicado for three days now. He said the last time he spoke to her was on Friday night. “She said the institute faculty had taken the group of mountaineers on top of a hill in Srinagar, safe from floods. She was living in a tent with 10 other women trainees. She assured me that she was safe and there was good food provided as well. But I’m anxious as have not been able to speak to her,” he said.
Preeti’s cousin, Pranav Hegde, described her as a ‘techie during the week and a trekker by weekend’. “She was very enthusiastic about the mountaineering course and we are worried about her safety. We only hope that the group of mountaineering trainees get rescued at the earliest,” he said.
