1. How did you get involved in the rescue and relief operations in Uttarakhand?
We were emotionally attached to the place and the locals as they would come with us on treks. Also, we had the equipment needed for the rescue work. We are all trained mountaineers and we conducted a lot of meetings before finalising volunteers who were physically and mentally fit to handle the situation. When we reached Uttarakhand, we found that the situation was quite bad. While most of the efforts were directed at rescuing the travellers, the locals were still in trouble and needed help. A lot of villages located near Nepal had lost completeu00a0communication with other places.

The Giripremi team working at building a bridge at Uttarakhand