Savita Dhapwal, a resident of Talpuri Bhilai, has created a unique record by conquering the inaccessible peaks of the Himalayas for the 13th time.

Under the leadership of Padma Bhushan Bachendri Pal, a group of 11 women from across the country including Savita has returned after unfurling the National Flag by conquering various peaks of the Himalayas, celebrating “Azadi Ke Amrit Mahotsav”. In this risky journey of 140 days, these women covered 4977 km crossing 35 dangerous passes. Through this campaign, these women contributed in raising awareness about the education of children and spreading the message of Fit India.

After the successful completion of the campaign, this group of women met various ministers and prominent people including the President of the country Draupadi Murmu, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Union Minister Anurag Thakur.

It may be noted that Savita Dhapwal is posted in the Education Department of Bhilai Steel Plant. Since 1987, she has participated in 8 major mountaineering expeditions. At the same time, before this, she has trekked various peaks of the Himalayas 12 times. Savita’s husband Hukum Singh Dhapwal, is working as General Manager in T&D Department of Bhilai Steel Plant. This trans-Himalayan expedition of these 11 women across 50 was primarily organized by the Tata Steel Adventure Foundation (TSAF) in association with the Union Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs under the banner of ‘Fit India’. In which the Indian Army was involved in this whole journey in terms of security. This team includes Padma Bhusan Bachendri Pal (Uttarakhand), Chetna Sahu (West Bengal), Savita Dhapwal (Chhattisgarh), Gangotri Soneji (Gujarat), Payo Murmu (Jharkhand), Sushma Bissa (Rajasthan), Krishna Dubey (Uttar Pradesh), Bimla Devaskar (Maharashtra), Vasumathi Srinivasan (Karnataka), L. Annapurna (Jharkhand) and Shamla Padmanabhan (Karnataka). Savita Dhapwal after returning Bhilai informed that the campaign was flagged off by Sujata Chaturvedi (Secretary in Sports Ministry) and Chanakya Choudhary (Vice President of Tata Steel Corporate Services) on 8th March in Delhi on International Women’s Day. After this, the actual trekking started from the Pangsau Pass on the Indo-Myanmar border from March 12 to commemorate the date of the start of the historic Dandi March. The expedition completed the Lamkhaga Pass (17,320 ft), which was technically extremely challenging for the trekkers. The campaign to celebrate Kargil Vijay Diwas on 26th July culminated in Dras Sector Kargil. Here the team participated in the Kargil Vijay Diwas celebrations at the Kargil War Memorial in Dras Sector Kargil.