Maharashtra: Everest conquered, Solapur man dies of congestion during descent

PUNE: For five years, Nihal Bagwan lived with the vexation of having had to abandon his climb while just 400 metres away from the peak of Mount Everest. The mountaineer had attempted the world’s tallest peak from the Tibet side in 2014, but poor health conditions forced him back to the base. On Thursday morning, Bagwan got second-time lucky when he successfully scaled Everest.His luck, however, was shortlived — he died of congestion during the descent the same night.
The 27-year-old from Akluj in Solapur was among three Everesters who died during the descent that night, the other two being Anjali Kulkarni (54) of Mumbai and Kalpana Das (49) of Odisha. While Bagwan died of dehydration and exhaustion, Kulkarni died of weakness. The exact cause of Das’s death is not known.
Scores of mountaineers queueing up to summit Mount Everest. Nepal has issued a record 381 permits for Everest expeditions this year.
Bagwan had recently completed a master’s degree in physical education from the Bharati Vidyapeeth deemed university in Pune. He had planned to join some institute as a physical instructor and also wanted to set up his own physical training institute.
Bagwan’s friend and mentor from Akluj, Anand Bansode, who had also scaled Everest in 2012, said, “All of us in Solapur were extremely thrilled with Bagwan’s achievement as he was only the second mountaineer from our region after me to climb Everest. We were shocked to hear from the sherpas around 11.30pm on Thursday that he had passed away.”
Bagwan’s father runs a paan shop while mother is a homemaker. A younger brother is pursuing his graduation.
Bagwan and Bansode had come to Pune 2-3 years ago. “Bagwan had got sponsorship for his 2014 climb. This time, however, he decided to pay for himself and borrowed money from various sources. We had planned a grand welcome for him but were left stunned,” Bansode said.
Bansode has learnt that the Indian embassy in Nepal is coordinating efforts to bring Bagwan’s body down on May 27. The body is present at Camp 4.
Bagwan was an active member of Bharati Vidyapeeth’s kabaddi team. He had attended two professional mountaineering camps and had also scaled many mountains in the Sahyadri ranges.
Hiking officials say around 5-10 mountaineers die on Everest in an average climbing year.
(With inputs from agencies)