Anandita Ganguly, a 72-year-old tourist from Jadavpur in Calcutta, died in Sandakphu on Monday, soon after reaching the highest point in Bengal by a Land Rover.
Anandita, along with her younger sister Ajinta Banerjee, also a senior citizen, had reached Sandakphu around 1.30pm on Monday.
“We were told that she started feeling uneasy within 10 minutes of reaching Sandakphu and was rushed down. However, she was declared brought-dead at the Sukhiapokhri block hospital,” said Rajesh Chowhan, the deputy chairman of the GTA Sabha.
Sources said that the sisters from Calcutta had stayed at Lepchajagat for two days, about 20km from Darjeeling, before heading for Tumling on Sunday. While Sandakphu, the highest point in Bengal, is situated at 11,930 feet, Tumling is located at an altitude of 9,744 feet.
“We have information that the siblings were told by the locals not to carry on with the journey, but they were confident of completing the trip,” said Chandan Pradhan, the president of the Land Rover Owners’ Welfare Association.
Praween Prakash, the Darjeeling superintendent of police, said the cause of the Calcutta tourist’s death in Sandakphu would be clear after the post-mortem.
Last year, three tourists died on their way to Sandakphu.
Experts have been repeatedly warning for years of the need to be vigilant before travelling to Sandakphu, especially for tourists from the plains.
Questions on the need to set up appropriate medical infrastructure and conduct proper medical examinations at Maneybhanjyan, the starting point for the Sandakphu travel, had often been raised in the past.
The Darjeeling district administration and the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration had held meetings and issued media statements on setting up stricter regulations on trekkers and those travelling to Sandakphu on vehicles.
“The initiative has been confined only to media statements,” said a resident.
Asked, a GTA official could not provide a straightforward explanation for the lack of initiatives to filter tourists going up to Sandakphu. “There are a lot of departments like the forest, health and the GTA. This could be the reason for the delay in implementing the initiative fully,” said the official.