For Dr Milind P Chitley, medicine was a profession but mountaineering was a calling. After completing his MBBS and beginning his career as a doctor, his growing love for the mountains and adventure eventually led him to leave medical practice and devote himself to mountaineering, a passion that would see him build an adventure company and spend more than three decades leading expeditions.

On Thursday, the veteran mountaineer was among the Indians reported missing after flash floods in Nepal. Chitley, his wife Janhavi and several members of a group of around 40 pilgrims travelling through his Mumbai-based adventure company Hills and Trails for the Kailash-Mansarovar pilgrimage could not be contacted.

The group included two prominent Mumbai doctors, Andheri-based gynaecologist Dr Gayatri Deshpande and her husband Dr Anand Deshpande, who headed the haematology department at Hinduja Hospital. Several senior citizens, including 68-year-old Sunil S Subhedar and 64-year-old Chetna Gupta, are also among those reported missing.

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The Nepal government has put the number of Indians reported missing at 178.

Chitley, who is in his 60s, completed his MBBS from Grant Medical College in 1983. But his fascination with adventure sports drew him away from conventional medical practice. In 1997, he co-founded Hills and Trails turning his decades-long experience in mountaineering into a venture that has since taken hundreds of people on treks, expeditions and pilgrimage journeys across the Himalayas, Ladakh and the Western Ghats.

His own mountaineering record is extensive. He has walked more than 3,000 Himalayan trails and expeditions and climbed to more than 23,000 feet on Mount Kangchenjunga. He was part of the organising committee of the 1997 Everest Expedition and served as the climbing doctor for the first Indian civilian expedition to a mountain above 8,000 metres.

He also conducted courses and workshops on mountain safety, rescue techniques and first aid, and authored a book on mountain first aid and rescue. He received the Girimitra Award in 2005 for his contribution to mountaineering.

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The Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra was particularly familiar territory for Chitley. Close associates said he had undertaken the pilgrimage more than 25 times.

“While he typically undertakes such tours alone, his wife Janhavi, who usually remains the Mumbai contact, accompanied him on this tour,” said Rutesh Panditrao, a tour consultant associated with Hills and Trails.

The group began its journey on August 23 and was scheduled to return on September 6. Hills and Trails was operating the tour in coordination with Nepal-based Richa Tours and Travels.

Besides Subhedar, Dr Gayatri Deshpande is also among those reported missing. She was travelling with her husband, Dr Anand Deshpande, and the couple was scheduled to return on September 7.

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Their niece, Maithili Mundale, said the family last spoke to the couple on Sunday. “We spoke to them on Sunday and wished them all the best. They were very excited about the trip. They must have planned it much beforehand,” she said.

The family subsequently made repeated attempts to contact them. “One of their relatives sent them a message yesterday morning, but it showed only one tick. We have not been able to get through to them since,” Mundale said.

The couple’s son, who lives in the US, has also been unreachable, she said.

Among the other missing pilgrims is 68-year-old Sunil S Subhedar, originally from Nagpur. His son, Swanand Subhedar, said he last spoke to his father on August 26, when he was at Timure and preparing to proceed towards China.

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“I spoke to my father the day before. He was very excited about the Kailash-Mansarovar trip. He was at Timure and about to embark on his journey to China on the pilgrimage,” Swanand said.

His father’s phone has remained switched off since then. Subhedar was travelling with the larger group and was accompanied by four of his peers from Mumbai.

“He is a very happy-go-lucky person and exercises every day. He was looking forward to this trip,” Swanand said.

Chetana Gupta, 64, had learnt about Hills and Trails through close friends who had earlier participated in a Mount Everest trek organised by the company. Her husband, Anand Gupta, said she had been keen to undertake the Kailash-Mansarovar journey and had even asked him to accompany her.

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“She had her sights set on the Kailash-Mansarovar tour and had even implored me to come along. However, I preferred to opt out because of age-related concerns and worries about low oxygen levels at high-altitude places,” Anand said.

Nepal army personnel amid a rescue and search operation after flash floods, at the Army Training Centre in Nuwakot, Nepal, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. The death toll from the devastating flash floods surged to 359 on Thursday.

He was last in contact with Chetana in the early hours of the day communication was lost. She was travelling towards an immigration centre, he said.

“We were on call and she told me that her sub-group of around 30 people was waiting to enter the immigration centre because one of the co-travellers had forgotten his passport in Kathmandu,” he said.

Three members of the Gupta family are now in Kathmandu trying to trace her and gather information about the other missing travellers.

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“We are trying to get whatever information we can, but so far there has been no luck,” Anand said.