Pandit reportedly entered the waist-high waters to collect a frisbee which he and friends had been playing with.
Just before the Australia Day long weekend, after scouring the area for more than 320 hours, volunteers from the local Albury and Border Rescue Squad scaled down the search for the missing Nepali student.
Paul Marshall, from the Albury and Border Rescue Squad, told SBS Nepali the search had to be scaled down for the welfare of the volunteers who were working tirelessly to locate missing Nepali man.
"We will keep looking for his body (Pandit) and hope to reunite him with his family so that they can have some closure," he said.
Describing the perils of the mighty Murray River, the biggest river in Australia if measured by the volume of water, Mr Marshall said the visibility underwater is no more than the length of one's arm.
"Murray is a dangerous river, and there are no two ways about it. The visibility of Murray is probably just about 50 centimetres and contains lots of snags including trolleys."
Photo: Albury and Border Rescue Squad - NSW Volunteer Rescue Association Source: Facebook/Albury and Border Rescue Squad - NSW Volunteer Rescue Association
Marshall also mentioned that there are sections of the river which are heavily reeded underwater that could obscure the body.
Despite this, Mr Marshall said he is very proud of the way volunteers are working tirelessly to give closure to Pandit's family.
"There is only so much we can do. We had divers, sonar equipment - now it's just a matter of a waiting game."
However, he wanted Pandit's family and friends in Nepal to know that when his body is located, volunteers will treat it with full respect and dignity.
Mr Marshall also told SBS Nepali that he wants the public to show respect and not swim near the spot from where Pandit went missing.
"There is a memorial down there, with flags and flowers and I want the public to avoid the memorial (for their recreation) but take a moment to look at the memorial and think about the dangers of the river and pay your respect."
Pandit’s family, friends, colleagues and the public had placed flowers and Buddhist prayer flags along the banks of the Murray River in Noreuil Park after he failed to resurface last month.
Search is still underway for Nepali student Bigul Pandit who went missing from Murray River banks at Noreuil Park in Albury, NSW on 9th January 2019. Source: Facebook/Bigul Pandit/Steve Panozzo (Digital Composite)
Pandit’s bereaved mother Guna Rimal told SBS Nepali that while she is grateful for all the well-wishers, she would like authorities to investigate the matter for all the possibilities.
“I spoke to him just a couple of days before he went missing and I am in shock from the news he’s drowned,” she said.
Ms Rimal also revealed to SBS Nepali the “friends” he went with to the park that afternoon were not known to Pandit for long.
“One of them became friends with Bigul just a week before his disappearance,” she alleged.
She also claimed Pandit was afraid of water and had told her he always stayed away from the water.
Guru Ghuman, the owner of the Albury Café where Pandit worked said Pandit didn’t know how to swim.
“Bigul was more than an employee – he was like a little brother to me. We were a family. I wouldn’t have let him go that fateful afternoon had I known he wouldn’t return,” said Ghuman.
Mr Ghuman shut his business for two weeks after Pandit disappeared as a mark of respect.
Mr Marshall also said while there is a possibility of the body being swept away, the probability of it was "very very low".
"There's a lot of snags, there a lot of debris and the path that river takes at the particular place is that it almost turns back onto itself. The current will push things on to the bank."
He said the search team had left items such a pillow to map the movement and that they have not travelled.
On Australia Day, another man in his late 30s also drowned in the Murray River at Yarrawonga in Victoria, while in a separate incident on January 27 another Nepali man in his twenties lost his life while swimming at Bents Basin near Wallacia in New South Wales.
Water safety Source: NSW Government
Another Nepali, Nischal Ghimire, who was also in his twenties and had been living in Adelaide, also lost his life by drowning this summer.
Water safety campaign
Teju Chauhan, a local community leader in Albury, told SBS Nepali that Life Saving Victoria is running a water safety campaigns for the local migrant and refugee communities in the towns along Murray River called "Respect the River".
"I urge everyone living in Albury-Wodonga to come and participate in Life Saving Victoria's Respect the River campaign when it runs again at Noreuil Park on 2 and 3 April," he said.
"It's vital we (migrants and refugees) learn the skills needed to enjoy the local waterways and identify the dangers that lay within them," said Chauhan.
According to the Royal Life Saving Australia Summer Drowning Toll, as of 6th February, 92 people have lost their lives in Australia by drowning. Last year, that figure stood at 59 deaths for the same duration.
Last summer, Amit Rai, a young Bhutanese refugee from South Australia who was holidaying in Albury with his family also drowned at Lake Hume in Table Top.
The bench was installed in memory of Amit Rai at Table Top Reserve, north of Albury. Photo: Chandra Rai Source: Chandra Rai
In honour of his memory, Rai's family donated funds to the local council which installed a wooden bench with a plaque, serving as a reminder for other about the dangers of swimming in the lakes, dams and river.
"I am very appreciative of the Bhutanese Australian Community Support Group in Albury Wodonga, Albury City Council and The Multicultural Council of Wagga who made it possible."
I hope it reminds everyone of the dangers these waters present," Rai told SBS Nepali.
Mr Marshall said he wanted people young or old to be safe around the water in Australia and avoid rivers and oceans if they do not know how to swim.
"If you want to learn swimming, do that in a (swimming) pool. Always go with a friend and make sure someone knows where you are at all times."
Source: SBS
