From Sandakphu to Kolkata: SEI’s gruelling Pentathlon returns with trekking, rafting, sailing
Times of India | 18 September 2025Last year, the event was held between Gomukh and Kolkata. The change in location was prompted by multiple natural disasters that have hit Uttarakhand this year. Incidentally, several NDRF personnel who were involved in search and rescue operations in Uttarakhand were trained at SEI. The institute has trained over 8,000 personnel till date.
"Uttarakhand has experienced four disasters this year. The Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttarkashi that had supported the event in 2023 asked us not to venture there due to the cloudbursts and landslides that have taken place.
We have therefore shifted the entire event to Bengal with Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI)providing support in the trekking leg between Sandakphu and Meghma," said SEI secretary general Sudeshna Chatterjee.
The pentathlon that began in 2023 marked the revival of competitive events by SEI and was crystallised after the golden jubilee celebration of the first Andamans expedition undertaken by explorer Pinaki Ranjan Chatterjee and former naval officer George Albert Duke.
Unlike last year when the competition was split in two phases with the first one being held prior to Durga Puja and the second phase after the festival, the early schedule of Durga Puja this year has allowed the Pentathlon to be held in a single phase.
"Altogether, six teams of eight members each will be flagged off from HMI in Darjeeling on Nov 3. They will be transferred to Sandakphu on Nov 4, stay the night and then trek to Meghma.
Thereafter, they will be transferred to Rangpo on Nov 6 from where they will raft to Teesta Bazar. Thereafter, they will be transferred to Farakka where they will have a day's rest. Then, they will use kayaks to reach Behrampore on Nov 10 after halts at Raghunathganj on Nov 8 and Debipore on Nov 9.
After another day's rest, they will start rowing and sailing via Palashi, Patuli, Kalna, Triveni and Barrackpore to reach Kolkata on Nov 16," SEI treasurer Samir Ghosh said.
Partnering with WWF India, SEI will also collect garbage along the route and test water at 10 locations. "We will collect water samples as we had done during the competition in 2023 and test them at the laboratory here to know the pollution load in the river," said SEI secretary Nilendra Sarkar.
