The Pandemic and the Mind 

Mental Health is a serious issue over the last few months. Children, young adults to Senior Citizens and Persons with Disability have been facing tremendous anxiety and other forms of mental stress. The positive is that a large number of people are now open to talk about their issue and seek help. We need more conversations around this subject for people to feel safe and talk.

A recent study by a preventive healthcare company GOQii indicates that 43% of Indians are depressed and are learning to cope with it. Another 26% Indians are facing mild depression, 17% face a more strenuous kind. It is concerning to note that 6% Indians are severely depressed, the study indicated.

The study conducted across 10000+ Indians to understand how COVID has changed lifestyle and how Indians are adapting to the new normal. This is a comparative study and highlights the glaring difference in lifestyle habits pre-corona and post lockdown. As per the study, a large section of the population has little interest in doing things in the current scenario. There is a cause of concern with more than 59% of the population having little pleasure in doing things these days, out of which 38% have this feeling on a few days and 9% feel so more than half of the days. 12% of the population has little interest almost every day in these times.

https://en.gaonconnection.com/the-pandemic-and-the-mind-me…/

 

Probe into the false Everest Summit starts in India and Nepal

While Indian Govt has put on hold Narender Singh's Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award to investigate the allegations against him, the Nepal DoT has also swung in action. He and his family will go all out to prove everyone wrong but, the investigation has started and my only request to all is please stand united and do not be scared to speak the truth till this ends. The problem is not about just the fake summit, the investigation has to look into his overall credibility, what are these world records that he is claiming he has got or participated. I created one of those certificates as well from the genuine 'Guinness Book of World Record Websites'. His twitter account is plastered with his photos with politicians congratulating him.. What surprises me is that for all the achievements that he has got, no mainstream media ahs has ever written one story on his achievements. Also, what saddens me is that year after year, its only Indians creating controversies especially with regard to summiting the highest Mountains. Why are we resorting to dubious methods to claim summits? is it all about cash rewards and accolades that follow, Govt Jobs?

So this is a fight for the truth!

https://www.mid-day.com/articles/nepal-s-tourism-department-starts-narender-singh-summit-inquiry/22961230

                                                                Award withheld or Denied??

 It is official that Narender Singh's name is not on the final list of awardees attending the virtual award ceremony on the 29th of August. The Haryana based mountaineer with a questionable mountaineering career accused of faking his Mt Everest Summit was one of the recipients of the prestigious Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award.

An official statement released by the Sports Ministry this evening states that there will be 14 sportspersons who will be absent from the virtual presentation of the annual National Sports Awards by the President of India Ram Nath Kovind this morning. The Ministry goes on to say that these sportspersons are unable to make it to the award due to health reasons and due to other sporting commitments, while one recipient of the Dronacharya Award has passed away.

The final list of names released by the Ministry does not have the name of Narender Singh. On Thursday, August 27, 2020, I had reported for The Mid-Day newspaper that Narender Singh had faked his Everest Summit in 2016 and raised questions on the selection criteria of these awards.
(https://www.mid-day.com/…/man-who-faked-summiting…/22956228…).

As a consequence of the report and the outrage ion social media by the mountaineering community, a probe was initiated by the Ministry and the concerned officers were asked to take charge to investigate the matter on an emergency basis on Friday August 28, 2020
(https://www.mid-day.com/…/probe-ordered-in-fake-e…/22957289…) .

However, there are no clear reasons cited as to why Singh’s name is not on the final awards list. Speculations are rife that he is not getting the award due to pending investigations.

The mountaineering community as a whole hope that the inquiry is a comprehensive one and not just limited to his fake Everest claims. The investigation needs to look into his credentials as a mountaineer and all his other claims of successful summits and world records. 

The big question is what qualifies him for this national award? Does he truly meet the outstanding ethical and technical standards required by an adventurer for receiving a National award for excellence in his field? If these questions are clearly answered it would truly be a beginning because that is the change we hope to bring.

It is yet on confirmed whether his award is withheld or denied.

 

Probe initiated to Fake Summit and credentials of the climber  who is likely to be given the prestigious Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award

Glad! that a probe has been initiated and the highest authorities are looking into the matter.  It's not about just about faking Everest. it is to what extent a person can stoop to get favours and accolades and he has managed this so well for so many years. Hoping truth wins! and if it does not and he gets the award, I am going to ensure that his Everest Certificate is officially cancelled by the DoT of Nepal. Even if it means it takes a couple of more months! That certificate thought got on faking summit is an authentic certificate as any another genuine Everest has.

Follow up a story in Mid-day

https://www.mid-day.com/articles/probe-ordered-in-fake-everest-summit-row/22957289

So long as individuals are not taught to climb for the love it and constantly told that if you climb Everest you will get this and you will get that these kind of wrongdoings are likely to continue. Rewarding is good but do not reward blindly based on recommendations. A proper check has to be put in place on the capabilities and the efforts put. What experience does the person have?

Even as I write this blog, my sources tell me that the man with the questionable Mountaineering career Narender Singh was part of the Award Ceremony rehearsals yesterday. Imagine, what credibility will this have in the future. 

If this is how National prestigious awards are given it says a lot about the standards we have.    I am still hopeful that truth will win 

.

Alleged Fraudster to get Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award for Land Adventure

 

 Fraudster to get Tenzing Norgay National Award for land Adventure

Mt Everest Expedition team Leader Naba Kumar Phukon of Assam says Tenzing Norgay Award recipient in 2020- Narender Singh never summited Mt Everest on May 20^,  2016 .

The award in question? 

Ever since the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards were announced last week, mountaineers all over the country are up in arms about one of the recipients in the Land Adventure category. The man in question is Narender Singh of Haryana who faked his Everest Summit in 2016 by providing photoshopped images. He claimed he climbed Everest on May 20th, 2016. However, his team leader Naba Kumar Phukon of Assam has gone on record to say that Narendra Singh did not summit Mt Everest in 2016. Speaking from Assam, Naba recounts the entire conversation between him and Narender Singh, “On 19^th evening, Narender and I were at South Col (Camp 4). Narender complained to me that he did not have sufficient oxygen, I advised him to descend as without oxygen one cannot summit Everest. I then left for my summit push and summited Everest on May 20th, 7:45 am. On my return I met climbers from Bengal police at South Col and asked them about Narender. They mentioned that they met him mid-way between Camp 2 and 3. I met him again on 21^st May at Camp 2, he had developed frostbite. When I left for basecamp he was still at camp 2. I reached Kathmandu on May 23^rd, received my certificate and came home.”

When asked about Narender and his fake summit certificate he  says, “I got to know two days back when I read he is getting the Tenzing Norgay Award. I wondered on what basis and I saw a report saying he has summited Everest which is a total lie. I’m 100% sure that he did not summit, it was just not possible, he did not have oxygen and he had developed frostbite''.

Naba and Narender Singh was on the expedition with Nepali agency Seven Summits.

Another Everester, Ramesh Roy, who summited the same year on May 21st, speaking to me from Kolkata, also said Narender Singh did not summit Everest. “I and 3 other mountaineers were resting in our tent at Summit Camp. Narender Singh was crying in the next tent and when we asked what happened he told us that he could not summit as he did not have enough Oxygen and hence returning back. I met him again around 26th May, 2016 in Kathmandu and he showed me his certificate and said see I have my summit certificate. I was shocked. It will be a disaster if he is given the Tenzing Norgay National Award for Adventure.”    

Lakhpa Sherpa from Nepal, who was part of the rescue team on Everest in May 2016 season says, " in 2016, Narender Yadav was not able to summit Mt Everest. I was in the rescue team that season and we rescued him from Everest Balcony (8400 mts). He was not able to go ahead of the balcony. I was shocked to see the Summit certificate in his hands. It's the mistake of Nepal's operating company> So he should not be given such a prestigious award. proper judgement should be done during the distribution of such a paragon award otherwise it will be disrespectful to many good Indian climbers.    

In 2016, I had exposed the Fake Summit of Mt Everest by the husband-wife duo Dilip and Tarkeshwari Rathore, constables from Maharashtra Police (https://www.mid-day.com/articles/himalayan-con-probe-ordered-into-pune-couples-everest-record/17381162) through this very newspaper. After relentless reporting for 14 months Nepal Govt and Department of Tourism of Nepal (in-charge of Mt Everest expeditions and giving certificates) cancelled their Summit certificates. They were eventually expelled from the Police service.

While working on the police constable investigation, I had come across Narender Singh’s case and I tried to expose his fake summit as well. I could not expose him in 2016 only because of lack of photo evidence and no first-hand eye witness accounts. Had I exposed him then, today the mountaineering community in India would not be disappointed.

(pics Attached). The picture he posted on Social Media and the newspaper pictures are different and clearly show they were morphed. One summit picture shows his face without the oxygen mask and in the other picture he is seen sitting with his oxygen mask, however, the mask has no oxygen pipe which clearly indicates that it is a bad photoshop job. He is seen sitting beside another climber in the pictures and the background is different in both. I tried to speak to him during my investigation in 2016 but he refused to talk to me. 

Nepal Press in 2016, did talk of his fake Everest summit based on his morphed summit photos but did not take it to a conclusion by investigating or speaking to him or the Nepalese agency Seven Summit and have his certificate cancelled.

Tenzing Norgay Adventure Award was instituted in 1993 to celebrate and recognize excellence in the field of adventure sports Land, Air, Sea and Lifetime achievement. Past recipients of this award have been stalwarts like Bachinderi Pal, Chandraprabha Aitwal, Wangchuk Sherpa, Premlata Agarwal, Brigadier Ashok Abbey, Palden Giachho who in the 27 year history of the award have raised its prestige and been an inspiration and standard of achievement in the sport.

It is shocking to note on what basis Narender Singh is being given this award. He has no credible mountaineering achievements. Is merely filling an application form and giving basic details about climbs done in the last three years (2017, 2018 and 2019) enough? Is showing certificates and some local newspaper articles about climbing Mt Kilimanjaro and Mt Elbarus enough to win the Tenzing Norgay Adventure Award?

Tensing Norgay National Adventure Award – the highest award for a mountaineer in India was instituted in 1993 to celebrate and recognize excellence in the field of adventure sports Land, Air, Sea and Lifetime achievement in these areas of sports. Past recipients of this award have been stalwarts like  Bachinderi Pal, Chandraprabha Aitwal, Wangchuk Sherpa, Premlata Agarwal, Brigadier Ashok Abbey, Palden Giachho who in the 27-year history of the award has raised its prestige and been an inspiration and standard of achievement in the sport.

Even the younger recipients of Award Nugshi and Tashi Mallik, Arunima Sinha, Anshu Jamsenpa and all the others have furthered the course of the sport in their own way and pushed their peers to strive for further and higher excellence.

I wonder what the word ‘Excellence’ means now? What is the criteria of giving such a highest award? Is it mere recommendations and filling a mere application form which also has only the candidate to fill in some basic details and talk about what climbs have you done in the last three years ( 2017, 2018 and 2019) . Showing that you have certificates and some articles about yourself in local newspapers about having climbed Mt Everest, Kilimanjaro-highest peak in Africa and Elbarus -highest in Russia is enough to win a Tenzing Norgay Award?

Debabrata Mukherjee, an Internationally Certified Mountain Guide and the oldest Indian to Summit Mt Everest at the age of 52 in 2014 from the North says, “Faking Everest seems to be a trend in India. Such a high honour cannot be given on climbing just Kilimanjaro and Elbarus. It has to be given based merit and on overall climbing skill, new route and technical difficulty and partly on development of mountaineering in India. Before selecting, the credentials should be checked by IMF as this is the highest mountaineering award in the country.

Padmashree Premlata Agarawal, the first Indian woman to scale the seven highest continental peaks of the world and a recipient of the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award in 2017 says, “An enquiry committee has to be put in place and they should investigate this person. In my opinion IMF should look into the matter as it concerns Indian mountaineering”.

There are so many more accomplished climbers in India who have an exemplary climbing record to their credit, including multiple 8000ers in the last 3 years. The very fact that the selection criteria for such a high honour is so flimsy has left many deserving climbers to steer clear of these awards. A humble community that has always stayed away from the limelight has finally raised its voice against the award going to a man with questionable mountaineering credentials.

Naba Kumar Phukon from Assam has also written to tensing Norgay’s son, Jamling Norgay, requesting him to look into the matter.

Several questions arise with regard to the selection criterion, verification process and the range of individual achievement required to receive the highest adventure sports honour in the country. These questions may or may not get answered, however, the collective outrage of the mountaineering community proves that no voice resonating with truth can be silenced.

 https://www.mid-day.com/articles/man-who-faked-summiting-mount-everest-to-be-awarded/22956228?ref=component_article_infinitescroll_1

 

 

    

 

Sometimes it feels good to know that there are good things happening around us . Vodafone Grow -Trees.Com initiative a move in the positive direction to protect Forests.

Post by The Other Story.

Afforestation is need of the Hour

Post by The Other Story.

Post by The Other Story.

Uttarkashi Diary!! Life Goes on………

……..Nothing has changed much

Last monsoon I was in Uttarkashi for relief operations and this monsoon I once again was there to check on the social work through Summiting4Hope that we have undertaken to help as many as we can here. And the effort is still on.

I have been travelling to Uttarakashi once in 3 months since last June. What amazes me is that nothing seems to have changed since then. 

The mountains of Garhwal Himalayas

Every time I am here and I travel to some of the villages in the interiors or meet the villagers in town, it makes me think that we live in 2 India- the one that you and me live in -the so called Urban and developed India that is seeing growth and second I dis is the India which even after 65 years is still fighting for basic amenities such as roads, water, power, medical facilities and employment opportunities.

The path or road to Bankoli . Its a neat 6-7 km walk upwards to the village

The villagers are very troubled but yet they have a smile on their face and continue with their daily routine. There are no roads yet. One downpour and the roads get washed away. On an average a villager has to trek 7-8 Km up and down daily to the road head for anything that they may require. 

For some villages such as Pilang and Jadao, the villagers have to trek 22 km to get to the road head. The villagers aren't complaining. It's a reality they have reconciled to and carry on with their day to day work as normally as it could get.

I was told that this time around too the government has been dropping ration via helicopters. The state government seems to be spending more on heli rides to the villages due to lack of roads and bridges.

It is understood that in one village in the district of Uttarkashi, the state Government dropped ration worth Rs 60,000 for an entire village via a helicopter and spend Rs 9 lakh on the heli ride. It would have been cheaper to have built the bridges and roads to connect the villages.

In another incident, a village lost one of its youngsters to a medical emergency as they were unable to get him to the district hospital in main Uttarkashi town nor be taken to the nearest primary health centre on time for treatment. Getting medical treatment is a mammoth task for the villagers. There are Government appointed Ashas in every village but Asha's cannot administer drugs. For any serious ailment, the villagers have to trek down few kms to get to the road head and thereafter get to the district hospital for a doctor's treatment. Every village that we visited we have had to administer some basic drugs like Paracetamol, pain killers or dress wounds.

Mamta in her Underconstruction house 

We traveled first to Bankoli village where Summiting4Hope, the social initiative that I started is working on its second project. We went to check on the house that we are building for the brave heart Mamta Rawat. Am I glad to say that the work has progressed well and the roof is laid. We have had to stop the work for a while due to heavy rains due to which transporting of cement and other materials has become a problem. But, the work will resume soon. Our estimation is that we should be able to complete the construction within one month of the work resuming.

Soon Mamta will move into her new home with her family and have a solid permanent shelter for herself and her family.  What is interesting to note is that Mamta has become an inspiration for many young women in her village and the nearby villages. They all want to do something in life which I think is a positive sign. When we spoke to them we got to know that they all want to become independent and earn a living for themselves. 

Summmiting4Hope will be sponsoring some of these women for their basic mountaineering courses and also train them with some basic communication skills and then get them freelance jobs in the adventure field where they can utilise their skills and earn a living and supplement their family income. We also spoke to their parents who are equally supportive and that's a positive sign I would say for these women.

Summiting4Hope along with Red Cross providing First Aid in Bankoli 

After we checked on the progress of the house, we then accompanied Jayprakash Panwar, the Uttarkashi district head of Red Cross who was surveying the extent of fresh damage in the village due to the current rains. Thankfully, we figured the damaged this year is not as much as it was last year. But, yet some houses have seen cracks.

The treacherous road 

One big heavy shower and the roads are lost, landslides haven't stopped here but, life goes on as they say.

Mamta Rawat: The unsung hero of Bankoli, Uttarkashi

 

Why is it that when we think of ‘Women of Substance’ we only think of the elite women.  Here is the story of a young brave heart from a small village called Bankoli in Uttarkashi district of uttarakhand. It’s the story 

of Mamta Rawat who in my eyes is truly a woman of substance.

This is her story …Mamta is 24 years old. Having dropped out of school to take care of her mother and her home, Mamta after great struggle managed to do her Basic Mountaineering Course from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi. But, it took her two years after her Basic Course to save up another Rs5000 to do her Advance Course. She did it with the hope that she could get employment in the adventure field. Having performed very well in the Advance course she got a sponsor to sponsor her next course the Method of Instruction course. She then went on to do her Search and Rescue Course. All these courses finally paid off and today she is a professional mountaineer and a qualified instructor. She works as guest instructor with NIM and as a freelancer with INME, a Delhi based adventure sport orgnaisation that conducts training and adventure trips for children.

Mamta, the only earning member of her family is a determined young Gharwali girl who always puts others first and then thinks about herself. Even as her house was getting washed away she preferred to rush out to the help of the pilgrims and other tourists rather than save her house as she was confident that nothing would happen to her family. She was out on rescue missions since the 17th of June with the NIM team and then for the next one month with INME on relief operations.

There are tales of this girl that will mesmerize people. While, on the rescue mission she carried a middle-aged pilgrim woman on her back as the lady was unconscious. She carried her on her back - like a mountaineer carries a rucksack – and ran down the rocky terrain for over 3km to help her get evacuated by a helicopter for further medical treatment. Even when asked what help she required with regard to her house she mentioned that it was nothing but that her village that required rope/cable bridges to cross over the rivers, as all the old bridges were washed away by river. Today she lives with her family of 6 members under a tinned roof.

It is for this brave heart that Summiting4Hope has decided to raise funds and help build her a permanent home where she and her family can live peacefully without any fear. Hers is the only house in her village that has been washed away. Mamta is an outgoing young girl who is ever ready to help anyone in need and always put the needs of others far above her own. Having done so much of her own people and for other that she did not even know, we feel this is the least that we can do for her.

`The expedition to Mt Rudugaira in Gangotri Glacier by Summiting4Hope in association with Uttarkashi based 3Point Adventure Agency was the first successful expedition, post monsoon and the recent disaster in the state of Uttarakhand.

Guneet Puri and Anusha Subramanian

11th October, 2013: Uttarkashi

Our happiness knew no bounds once atop the summit of Mt Rudugaira (5819mts). The 12 member team consisting of Yashwant Singh Panwar (Expedition leader and partner 3 Point Adventure), Deepak Rana (Expedition Guide) Guneet Puri, Saurav Rautella, Pitambar Chandola, Shashi Bahuguna, Udisha Uniyal, Saurabh Dhiman, Vipul Vashistha, Aditya Shinde, Saurabh Dhiman and Anusha Subramanian and one porter – Raju summitted the peak on the morning of 6th October at 9 am.

It was indeed a big achievement for all of us as the conditions were tough. After encountering steep inclines, moraine and winds blowing at speeds of 35kmph the team slowly and steadily climbed up to the summit.

What was more overwhelming for us was the fact that our team was the first team to have summitted a peak in the region post the 16th June disaster. The expedition was conducted in an effort to boost adventure tourism here and also to aid all those people who had lost their jobs in the aftermath of the disaster. 

For all of us mountaineers on the team it was an overwhelming calling to do something in a place we are so very found of. Having spent a lot of our time in Uttarakashi during our mountaineering courses at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering and also later on expeditions, it seemed only right to give back to the mountains and people who had welcomed us into their hearts and lives.

Post the June 16th disaster most of team members either found themselves already in Uttarkashi or answered the call of the crying mountains to help with rescue and relief operations in the district. With the approaching winter, the need of the hour was to help the villagers get back on their feet, so that they could sustain themselves through the harshest of seasons. The need of the hour was to help rebuild Uttarakhand.

Thus was born Summiting4Hope, the brain child of Journalist and mountaineer Anusha Subramanian. The first project undertaken under this banner was Climb for a Cause: In Uttrakahnd, For Uttarakhand, By Uttarakhand in association with a local Uttarkashi based adventure agency 3 Point Adventure.

The expedition team was flagged off on 29th September by Padmashree Chandraprabha Aitwal, a legendry climber of India who also happens to hail from Uttarkashi. The team set out on its journey to Gangotri on the 30th in a Mahindra Scorpio sponsored by Mahindra Adventures.

The drive was wonderful with the car supporting us all through the narrow, rough and not so perfectly made roads. The Border Road Organisation (BRO) had restored roads that had been completely lost and thus had made it easier for the villagers to be able to at least come down to the Uttarkashi town for their essentials. Also with the winter round the corner most people in the upper reaches come down to Uttarkashi town.

Despite the bumpy drive the view succeeded in making up for the discomfort of the journey. The deep gorges, vivid colours, the now calm Bhagirathi River, all made the mountain seem to come alive and beckoned us further into its lap.

The landscape was breathtaking all the way till Gangotri; passing through the quaint villages of Harshil and Dharali which are famous for their apple orchards. Gangotri is also a beautiful little temple town. What’s interesting here are the rock formations, especially in the river. It’s something one would have never seen before. They are huge single boulders, smooth in shades of brown and grey, with depressions in them, as though someone has left finger marks in clay dough.

After a good night’s rest at Gangotri (3140m), the team along with the cook and the porters set out for our expedition on the morning of October 1. The trek from Gangotri to our first camp - Nala Camp (3450m) was a steep climb with several landslides on the way, vestiges of the June 16 disaster. After a neat 4 hour walk we had gained a height of approximately 300 meters on the first day.

The next morning we set out for our Base Camp which was situated at a height of 4450. It was a treacherous and steep climb and we gained a height of nearly 1000 meters that day. The walk th ough treacherous was breathtaking. We had the Bhagirathi river flowing on our left, glimmering like a thousand diamonds under the midday sun, and the mountain ranges flanking us on both the sides of the valley, showing off a spectrum of colours, dark green pine forests, orange to brown till finally red alpine meadows higher up, and the whipped cream and chocolate flakes, like snowy tips.

The team having seen two extremely strenuous days of walking while trekking up to Base Camp, decided to rest for a day to get better acclimatised. Thus instead of going straight up to the Summit Camp we decided to set up an Advance Base Camp (ABC) as well.

We left from Base Camp for ABC on the morning of October 4 at around 9:30am. The entire team was at ABC at around 10:30am. The terrain was slightly grassy with hints of moraine. There was also one place where we had to descend into a "nala" and then climb straight up an incline of about 50 degrees. The ABC (4600m) was set up in a ground on the other side of this ridge.

After setting up the team's tents and the kitchen tent we went for a small acclimatisation walk that also served as a scouting trip for the next day's trek up to Summit Camp. The weather was as we had faced every day, bright and sunny in the mornings and overcast during the evenings.

The morning of the 5th was bright as well and the team wrapped up ABC and started moving towards Summit Camp (4800m) at 9:30am and reached at 11am. The terrain from the ABC to Summit Camp was completely moraine. After the camp was set up the team went for a short walk to acclimatise and to scout the route to the summit.

After lunch the weather started turning bleaker than usual. By 3pm there was a white out and as we waited for the tea to boil it got increasingly worse. At around 5pm it started snowing in earnest. There was also severe thunder and lightning. We were quite worried at this point and there was a general low feeling in the group till dinner time.

Then the weather started cleaning up and the team called an early night in anticipation of the early rising call the next morning. The team set out for the summit on the treacherous moraine peak, from the Summit Camp at 5.30am and reached the summit at 9am.

The morning of the 6th was a clear one but it was extremely cold till the sun came up. Even after the sun came up the day proved to be windy, with winds blowing at speeds of around 35kmph.

The terrain was rocky with moraine and there were several patches of slippery slate. We encountered snow only about 150m from the summit. Some amount of front pointing and side stepping was involved in getting to the top but at 9am the last feet of the team stepped atop the summit of Mt Rudugaira (5819m).

Though tired there was a general atmosphere of triumph and jubilation among the team members. After the initial rounds of hearty congratulations and many more rounds of celebratory hugs the team sobered down for the Pooja at the summit thanking the gods for the excellent weather as well as the mountain for letting us sneak up to her summit. Incense was burnt, offerings of coconut scattered and Tibetan prayer flags were also tied at the top.

The team spent another half hour or so taking pictures and videos on the summit and then started the slow and cautious descent to Base Camp. We stopped at the Summit Camp to have tea and wrap up the camp. The next stop was to wrap up the ABC where we also had lunch. The entire team was safely back at Base Camp at around 3pm after having gained nearly a 1000 meters and descended nearly 1400 meters.

The next day we wrapped up our expedition to Rudugaira and walked back down to Gangotri. With the weight of the expedition gone the team frolicked on the way back. The team reached Gangotri at 2:30pm on the afternoon of the 7th of October.

Where a member stumbled there was another at his or her side to steady them, where someone slipped there was another to pull them up. In this way we proved that even though Uttarakhand has stumbled we are still here to help her back on to her feet.

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Uttarkashi Update: Women’s health issues need immediate attention: Urgent Call for Lady doctors

There are several problems faced by women in rural India. Uttarkashi district in Uttarakhand is no different. The situation has only gotten worse here after the flash floods struck the district and the state as a whole in June 2013. Aditya Shinde, a mountaineer and who is currently on Relief operations in Uttarkashi on behalf of Sahil, a Pune based NGO says: "That there are several medical problems and most of all those faced by women". 

Woman’s status and gender norms that are prevalent in the society determine the access to and utilization of health care facilities. "As is understood from district authorities at Uttarkashi, for a population of close to 3.5lacs, this entire district does not have a single lady doctor. Gynecologists are a far cry," says Shinde. 

Most health issues among women emanate out of the fact that they lack knowledge on dietary habits and nutritious food. Most women in the villages are undernourished. Women do not know how much food they need to consume during the time of pregnancy and about the lactation period for women. This leads to high maternal mortality rate among the women. Apart from that most women in the villages are suffering from anaemia and weakness. The latest on ground report from Dr Aditya Banerjee who was there for a week conducting medical camps in remote villages of Bhatwari Block shows that almost 95 per cent village women here suffer from anaemia. Apart from that many women suffer from menstrual disorders such as Leucorrhea, Metrorragia, Dysmenorrhea and Irregular menses.

This is a serious problem and at this point in time there is a requirement for lady doctors who can trek with the relief teams working in Uttarkashi and reach out to the remote villages now even cut off from basic healthcare. Please share this among your network of friends

Rebuilding Uttarakhand

There goes an adage that says ‘Rome was not built in a day’ similarly rebuilding of Uttarakhand is going to take a very long time. One cannot imagine a devastation of this nature. While many have been rendered homeless in the affected districts such as Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, TehriGrhwal and Chamoli, a whole lot have lost their livelihood and unemployment stares at them and how.I would like to give you an idea of the place Uttarkashi where I had stationed myself for relief operations.
Uttarkashi situated at an altitude of 1352 meters is one of the worst affected districts. 40 kms away from Yamnotri and 100 kms away from Gangotri both part of the pilgrimage tour- ‘Chardham Yatra’ has been thriving due to tourism.
Uttarkashi, meaning Kashi of the North itself is considered abode of gods due to the presence of so many temples and ashrams in that one small town. Similar to Varanasi, Uttarkashi is also situated on the Ganges, lies next to a hill named Varun Parvat where there is a confluence of two rivers Varun Ganga and Asi Ganga and has a ghat called Manikarna Ghat. It also has the famous Kashi Vishwanath Temple dedicated to lord Shiva right in the centre of town. Apart for this there is the Kandar Devta Mandir (temple) and Ganga Mandir. Uttarkashi is also famous for the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM). 
There were several places within the Uttarkashi town that were affected. But, Joshiyara, which adjoins the Uttarkashi town and is situated alongside the Bhagirathi river was worst affected. There are close to 300 households I was told in this small place. It also has the famous temple, Kaleshwar Mandir, dedicated to Lord Shiva. This small village was one of the affected during the recent floods. Several new construction buildings that came along the banks fell like a pack of cards.
Last month many watched helplessly as their homes got washed away. Preetam Gumber, a resident of Uttarkahi town who owns a grocery shop in the market and also runs a hotel Radhika Palace nearby watched helplessly as part of his house situated just on the banks of the river next to the Ganga Mandir (temple) got washed away. He and his family shifted into their hotel which was empty as most who had booked rooms until September had cancelled their trips to Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand.
Similarly, one another gentleman from Joshiyara who had lost everything was seen sitting on the streets staring at his broken home. As I approached him and asked him If I could help in any way, the old fragile and wrinkled gentleman turned around and looked at me and said , “Beta ab main kya chahu. Kuch nahi chaiye mujhe . Joh bhi tha sab chala gaya’. (What can I wish for now. All that I had is washed away). He further added that whether I get ration or anything that is being given as relief does not make a difference to him as he had lost his several years savings and the house he had built. ‘Kahan se shuruaat Karun. Pata Nahi’ (where do I begin all over again I do not understand) he said.  
This is the question being asked by one and all in this Uttarkashi district. Be it a man who lost is home in the town area or Joshiyara or the man who lost his house in the upper reaches of Uttarkashi, both have seen their houses and livelihood disappear in front of their eyes in the floods.
Gopal Thapliyal, project manager at Sri Bhuvaneshwari Mahila Ashram (SBMA), an NGO that has been operating in Uttarkashi for the last 3 decades and has its office in Joshiyara says: “This tragedy has affected the locals a lot. The locals were dependent on Tousirm. Thousands here work as porters, drivers, guides and waiters. But due to lack of business they have been rendered jobless. In most areas affected by the floods, their entire economy is based on tourism. Adventure tour companies that have been helping the locals as well as helped in rescue operations of the pilgrims are left with no work currently. All of them have lost business for this year. For some their losses run into lakhs.
Tourism provides employment, directly or indirectly, to a significant number of the people residing in villages near the tourist spots in Uttarakhand. One is not sure as to whether people will now be willing to come to Uttarakhand at all. 
However, what surprised me is that most are positive in their outlook for future. While they are very clear that they will not move out of Uttarkashi and Uttrakhand they will find means to be able to rebuild their lives.
The task now is how does one rebuild this state?. It’s a mammoth task at hand. 

Uttarkhand Relief Operations

Everest conquerors to the rescue!

A group of ace climbers, which includes Mt Everest conquerors Bachendri Pal and Premlata Agarwal, have quietly arrived in Uttarkashi from across India ” trekking up to villages where even the Army jawans haven't reached, providing essential supplies to marooned villagers who have no food, water or power

 http://www.mid-day.com/news/2013/jun/300613-mumbai-news-everest-conquerors-to-the-rescue.htm


My interview from Ground Zero in Uttarakhand on Harman Radio 
http://harmanradio.com:4444/player/jplayer/tr691889

Climbers on a mission to Uttarakhand

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/climbers-on-a-mission-to-uttarakhand/article4883034.ece

Even though media attention has shifted from Uttarakhand, the work done by local NGOs, trekking communities and good samaritans continues, as they try hard to rehabilitate the locals and rebuild their lives from their lost fortunes. We feature their work here not only to create awareness about the remarkable initiatives undertaken in disaster management but also to encourage them and to express our support and gratitude  for their efforts. - 
http://www.thebetterindia.com/7443/tbi-uttarakhand-diaries-relief-work-carries-on-even-as-media-focus-shifts/ 


TBI writer Anusha Subramanian is currently in Uttarakhand, participating in the relief operations and assisting the locals in rebuilding their lives. She reports from the scene of the devastating floods on the current situation in the affected areas, on the aid provided by the administration, and the stupendous work being carried out by trekkers, mountaineers, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), army personnel and NGOs. - 
http://www.thebetterindia.com/7406/tbi-uttarakhand-diaries-hope-floats-on-ngos-and-mountaineers/ 

Uttarakhand Diaries-Nature's Fury

After spending 22 days in Uttarkashi, on the banks of the Bhagirathi river in Uttarakhand on relief operations my observation is that while we cannot avoid nature’s fury, the destruction to human lives and property could have been avoided. It could have been avoided if there wasn’t rampant construction of dams, roads and unmindful digging and blasting of the hills. It could have been avoided if the River Regulation Zone (RRZ) would have been passed way back in 2002 and then we would not have had so many construction by the river banks. It could have been avoided if the Environment ministry had done proper cumulative Environment Impact assessments (EIAs) and not blindly given out environment clearances. Despite assessment done by the state government that 250 villages in Uttarkashi are in danger zone nothing was done to relocate them to a safer zone. All the assessments have remained on paper. Today, the situation is such that many are dead or marooned across Uttrakhand, scores of villages across the valleys including Uttarkashi are washed away or almost on the verge of being washed away when it continuously pours the next time. The devastation is unimaginable and its going to be practically impossible for the state Government to carry out rehabilitation on such a large scale.

In Uttarkashi district most roads are broken and many are cracked. One large downpour and these could further split in parts. The Borders Roads Organisation (BRO) in charge of building roads is currently filling the craters with mud to create make shift roads. These are not helping as one rain and the next minute the roads are washed away again. For many across the state this kind of devastation has never been seen before. In 2010 and 2012 floods, people did not loose their homes and lands. Though it was bad they could pull themselves back and start life afresh but this time around they have lost whatever little they had and now completely left high and dry.
Garhwal Himalayas, where the maximum devastation has happened, are unstable hills and are still in the process of growing. While trekking to the far flung villages in the Uttarkashi district we passed through several road heads such as Ganghori, Naitala, Maneri where roads are part split and part functional. A closer look at these roads I realized that its unmindful construction of roads. Further blasting them to make tunnels, dams, and other such projects has destabilized the entire mountain range. The ground has become loose over a period of time, and with the heavy downpours, the rocks an the mountains come tumbling down with a humongous amount of slush, which destroys everything in its way. Some villages such as Pilang, Jadaou have their houses in a precarious situation. The houses are in such positions that from underneath its sliding and from the top there is mountain  landslides.
The houses are almost sandwiched in between thus making it unlivable for the villagers. These villages were assessed to be in danger zone and are still awaiting resettlement forget rehabilitation. Villagers say that in 1991, when Uttarkashi, was struck by a massive earthquake, most far villages such as Syaaba, Jadao, Pilang, Loonthru, Bayana all suffered heavy damage. Even last year, a cloudburst caused massive floods in Uttarkashi district. The flood waters of the Asi Ganga river entered the village of Barsu. Sangam Chetti another area in the Uttarkashi district also saw cloudburst last year and there was widespread destruction. A dear friend who lives in Bankoli village above SangamChetti lost her house partly in the last floods and this year the destruction has been worse for her. She has lost both her house and her shop which helped them make ends meet. In another village called Siror, the villagers who had built their houses along the river banks and had also vast stretch of agricultural land have seen their houses crumbling and land getting washed away right in front of their eyes when the flash floods occurred recently. One of the houses that I visited here the river  had cut through his house and destroyed everything and also left back a huge mound of silt. The owner of the house is an old man who lives in that house with his wife and young kids. With nowhere else to go the man and his family lived in fear waiting in hope for some relief to come their way from the Government authorities. Finally when I visited him as part of TRC we handed out a tent and tarpoline along with a solar lantern and some ration so that he could relocate himself in a safer zone along with his family.
It is understood from environmentalists that cloudbursts become catastrophic in areas where where digging, blasting and tunnelling work is taking place.
Its understood from sources that in Uttarakhand 558 dams and Hydro Electric Power (HEP) projects  have been planned that will convert 1,152 km of river length into underground canals. Uttarakhand has a total installed hydro-electric power capacity of 3,426 Mw. Another 95 projects with a total capacity of 12,235 Mw are in various stages of development. Locals indicated that many of the projects around Uttarkashi town on the Bhagirathi river has been stalled for a while now. Data available with Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (UJVNL) CPSUs like NTPC, THDC and NHPC are developing around 25 projects with a total capacity 7,302 Mw and the private sector is working on 38 projects of 2,118 Mw capacity. Currently, as per the site 45 projects worth 3164 Mw is under operation in Uttarakhand.
The expanding population, poor land use, destruction of natural vegetaion, increasing strain of developmental projects like dams, roads, tunnels etc have bound to bring severe impact on life and property either during floods or earthquakes.

Uttarakhnd Diaries: Notes from the villages

Chandra Singh Rana, a middle aged man from Jadaou village in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand has trekked 18 Kms from his village to get to the road head Mala along with his fellow villagers and from the road head they have had to walk another 35 odd Kms to get to Uttarkashi town and why? To collect relief materials such as tents, torch, water purifier and solar lanterns being provided to them by Various Organisations such as Tata Relief Committee and IN ME.

Tata Relief Committee had initially adopted around 6 villages in this region namely DIdsari- ( new and Old ) , Pillang, Jadaou, Bhayana, Shyaba and Lungthru which are completely remote and cut off from road connectivity and villagers have lost their homes. With at Total of 40 families in Jadau which  amounts to a population of approximately 200 people, the village has lost all access to any kind of connectivity. The village is in a danger zone and despite repeated attempts by the village to ask the government to relocate them nothing has happened. And today the situation is such that they have all had to leave their homes and live in a tent accommodation.

Harikrishna, the village head says, :" it has been over 15 days since the tragedy has struck but no government authorities have visited us yet". Tata Relief Committe's staff  were the first to visit us son after the disaster. They even stayed with us for one night in our village and experienced our plight themselves.."

Due to the difficulty in reaching this village to distribute the relief material, the villagers of Jadau decided they will come to Uttarkashi and collect their own relief  items. Prior to getting relief from TRC, the villagers have been visiting Uttarkashi in the hope to meet the district authorities and get some help. But to no vain.

So far the villages say the government has only set up a medical camp. But more than anything right now what we need is a roof on top of our head and food to eat, they add unanimously.

Similar is the case with villages such as Pilang, Shayaba, Loonthru to name a few. In Shyaaba, the villagers have lost their one main livelihood - agriculture land. Shyaaba. was rich in vegetables. Infact, the Uttarkashi bazaar got its vegetables from Shyaaba. It's understood from the preach and of the village that the annual income of each family was close to Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000. With the road connectivity having been lost these villagers are also facing the problem of medical aid. Those ailing have not been to come to town for their regular checkups.

This is not the first time that Jadau, Pilang, Shyaaba and the nearby villages are facing this tragedy. In 2010 and 2012 floods too the villagers faced the same issue but it wasn't this worse. After an assessment by the government administration, the villagers were told that they would be relocated. "Twice an assessment of our village was done-in 20010 and in 2012. A proposal for relocation was accepted. We have all the documents but we never relocated and today we have lost everything after this disaster," says Rana from Shyaaba. Since then the assessment has remained on paper. The has been no action taken in relocating them.

The future of these remote villages and hamlets of flood ravaged Uttarakhand seems to be still bleak. No less than 96 villages in Bhatwari block alone in Uttarkashi district are devastated by natural causes in the past and were yet to be relocated. Now the scenario is such the the current devastation has made it practically impossible and crippled the government to be able to rehabilitate such large numbers of disaster hit villages.

The situation of these villages is also extremely backward. In the current scenario, all the men here are unemployed and their first priority as of now is to save themselves and their family.

The kids education levels are extremely low as the teachers don't come full time because these villages are remote. "the kids go to school 3kms away. now that has stopped too as there are no roads and the bridge that they need to cross to get to school has  also broken", says Rana. .

In the current scenario what has also become necessary in these villages is medical aid. INME , an adventure sport company is conducting medical camps in most of these villages. Their team of mountaineers are accompanied by a doctor are examining the villagers and then administrating drugs. Some of the common ailments are skin problems such as itching, stomach problems such as aches and cramps and  diarreah and acidity. Many of them who are already suffering from some ailments have been unable to come to town for treatment at the district hospital.

As of now the villagers say we have no clue what we are in for in the days to come. As of now we are taking each day as it comes, they say.