Ten Years, 300+ Soldiers Saved: Tiranga Mountain Rescue Marks A Decade Of Silent Service

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The photographs in the exhibition hall at Manekshaw Centre did not look like anything you would see in a newspaper. No staged moments, no polished compositions. Just volunteers, ropes, snow, and the kind of faces that belong to people who have learned not to look down.

BoldSky was at Zorawar Hall and Ashoka Pavilion, New Delhi, on May 8 when Tiranga Mountain Rescue (TMR) celebrated a decade of work that most of the country has never heard of, and that is, in many ways, the point.

Photo Credit: BoldSky

What TMR Has Built Over Ten Years

Founded in 2016, TMR is India's pioneering high-altitude rescue organisation. In ten years, it has helped save over 300 soldiers and driven annual avalanche fatalities down from 38 in 2016-17 to fewer than 3 by 2023-24. Those numbers, displayed quietly alongside photographs from the field, were among the most striking things in the room.

The organisation has led and supported rescue operations across some of India's worst recent disasters - the Manipur Tupul landslide in 2022, the Sikkim Glacial Lake Outburst Floods in 2023, the Wayanad floods in 2024, and the Dharali landslide and flash floods in 2025. Among its most haunting missions was the retrieval of remains from the 1968 AN-12 air crash near Rohtang, a recovery operation carried out decades after the tragedy, in terrain that had preserved the wreckage in ice.

What The Evening Looked Like

Photo Credit: BoldSky

The event opened with a short film on TMR's journey; quiet, methodical, and difficult to watch in the best possible way. Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh, who attended as Chief Guest alongside the Chief of Army Staff and the Defence Secretary, addressed the gathering with measured weight.

"Tiranga Mountain Rescue has exemplified courage, discipline and selfless service in some of the most challenging terrains of our nation," he said. "Their silent yet impactful work reflects the true spirit of India's defenders, and I commend their decade-long commitment to saving lives in the harshest conditions."

Founder Hemant Sachdev, visibly moved by the evening, kept his remarks grounded. "This exhibition is not just a reflection of our journey, but a tribute to every volunteer who stood tall in the face of adversity," he said. "Our silent service has always been for the nation, and we remain committed to safeguarding lives in the mountains, where every rescue is a race against time."

What The Exhibition Said Without Words

The photographs did most of the talking. Rescue teams navigating whiteouts. Volunteers carrying stretchers across ridgelines that did not look survivable. Faces of soldiers who made it back. The exhibition was not designed to inspire awe - it was designed to bear witness.

That quiet insistence on documentation, on letting the work speak for itself, is perhaps the defining characteristic of an organisation that has spent a decade deliberately avoiding the spotlight.

Bottomline

In a country that celebrates its heroes loudly, Tiranga Mountain Rescue has spent ten years doing the opposite: climbing in silence, rescuing without fanfare, and leaving the mountains cleaner and safer than they found them. The numbers are extraordinary. The restraint is even more so.