Fifty –year-old climber Payo Murmu, reached the Tatanagar railway station by Bhubaneshwar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express on Thursday morning after a chilling experiences in Nepal. Her husband Sawna Murmu, son laxman, Tata Steel Adventure Foundation’s KP Mahto and colleagues from Tata Steel, greeted her.
“I thank God that I reached home safely. I spent my day by resting and going to market,” Payo noted. She said that though she is sad that she was not able to conquer Mt Everest but given a chance in future, she will again try and march ahead.
Recounting her experience at the Everest Camp 1, Payo said “It was a horryifying experiences there. The earth was shaking and it seemed we will collapse. It was our good lucky that I and Hemant reached the base camp safely,” noted Murmu.
The devastating earthquake in Nepal put a hurdle on city-based Hemant Gupta and Payo Murmu’s mission to scale Mount Everest. The adventurers from Tata Steel Adventure Foundation (TSAF), who were struck at Camp 1 (21,000 ft) had to drop mission midway.
Hemant (25), is an IITian from Mumbai and a manager with the TSAF. He hails from Kota (Rajasthan) while Payo, who works at the Tata Steel’s loco traffic department, had left for Kathmandu on April 3. Payo is a mother of three sons and is a resident of New Baridih.
Both Hemant and Payo had a personal accident insurance cover of Rs 10 lakh each. Besides, TSAF are also paying Rs 80,000 (for each) to a US-based agency for rescue and hospitalisation.