Lucknow: Two sisters from Lucknow, Vartika Verma, 28, and Deepika Verma, 29, were among three more trekkers whose bodies were recovered during a search operation on Wednesday, taking the death toll in the Kedartal avalanche tragedy in Uttarkashi to six.The sisters, residents of Gudamba, were missing since an avalanche struck their trekking group while they were climbing towards Kedartal at an altitude of around 10,000 feet. Their bodies were found buried beneath snow.Vartika and Deepika were regular trekkers and had undertaken several expeditions across India and Nepal. They had returned from a trip to the Valley of Flowers and Hemkund Sahib barely two months ago. Around a year earlier, they had also trekked to Kedarkantha in Uttarkashi’s Mori region along with their brother Atul Verma and friends.While Vartika worked as a freelance influencer, Deepika was a graphic designer in a private company.The sisters had begun their Kedartal trek from Gangotri on Oct 27 along with seven other trekkers and five support staff members. The three-day expedition was scheduled to conclude on Oct 29.However, heavy snowfall and deteriorating weather conditions triggered an avalanche, blocking the return route and leaving eight members of the group stranded in the mountains.On Oct 30, some members of the trekking group informed the trekking agency that they were stranded near Kachcha Dhang and sought assistance. A rescue operation was launched and four members of the support team were evacuated on Oct 31.The sisters’ brother, Atul Verma, travelled to Uttarkashi with other family members to look for them. He claimed that the family did not receive information about the incident from the trekking agency and learnt about the tragedy through social media reports.The family has raised questions about the agency’s handling of the expedition, alleging that the trek was conducted despite adverse weather conditions and that the relatives were not informed promptly after the group went missing.Girls’ father Shri Narayan Verma told TOI that they had been going on trekking expeditions for the past 10 years. Their body will arrive in Lucknow on Thursday.
