Nanda Devi Sanctuary is closed - Joint Indo USA scam

Hippie at Heart

Nanda Devi Sanctuary is closed for Indians and foreigners alike since 80s’. I really don’t buy the flora and fauns biodiversity being endangered by overcrowding and exploitation by locals and climbers alike.

Security reason is another thing but then again isn’t it that many other border areas as close to international line but still open against permit issuance!! It is no secret that Indian beurocracy sometime attain the heights of idiocy. Survey of India won’t sell the topo sheets of border areas for security reason but another arm of same govt known as sensory mapping and satellite division is selling satellite images to all and sundry like no tomorrow, in international market.

So what exactly it is that govt of India is wishy washy about closing the sanctuary? There is a suggestion that during the mid 70’s when USA and china had most strained diplomatic relations, USA educated India about impeding doom of china and a repeat of 1962. Both then planned and worked out that they shd put an unmanned spy station listening to the Chinese and what better place it can be then Nanda devi itself? Since the sanctuary is known to have 3 of big 8+ peaks.

So far so good but according to some unconfirmed reports a joint India USA assault team of 17 members was totally annihilated during a vicious storm that nanda devi suddenly whipped up. Only 3 members of expedition could make it to base camp leaving behind them a nuclear powered device which was damaged in the melee.

There were no names or official white paper from the either side on this and no one knew what exactly happened that day. I don’t really buy the theory of biodiversity being disturbed by locals and climbers but there is some strength in the fact that nanada devi area is nuke polluted hence it is closed for any human interaction.

I hope someone can put fourth credible comments in this regard.

Yetijuice

< Nanda Devi area is nuke polluted >

It would be easy to check on that. Use a geiger counter on water samples taken from the Nanda Devi Sanctuary drainage basin. The best way to spy on China is with geostationary satellites. There is nothing like real time capability! Then again this Republican administration can twist intelligence like the barnyard critters did in George Orwell's "Animal Farm."

As long as you declare it Indian customs would probably let you bring a geiger counter into the country. Indeed, you could probably bring it in undeclared.

crvlvr

Some More Info:

http://www.mounteverest.net/story/Na...eb222005.shtml

Apparently there is also a book on this:

Kohli, M. S., & Conboy, K. J. (2002). Spies in the Himalayas : secret missions and perilous climbs. Lawrence, Kan.: University Press of Kansas.

amazon: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...oks&n=507 846

Recent retelling of the Indo-American attempts in the 60s to to place a nuclear-powered listening device on Nanda Devi to spy on China's nuclear tests. M.S. Kohli was the chief Indian officer on the CIA-sponsored expeditions that secretly scaled the heights of Nanda Devi and Nanda Kot.

-m2-

There are dozens of trekking companies offering trips to the Nandi Devi Sanctuary --
while some of the links might be a year or two old, it does not appear that the sanctuary is closed, at least not the whole area. Where did you get your information?

http://www.google.com/search?q=Nanda... &start=0&sa=N

crvlvr

Frim one of the links,

"Things got worse until Indian authorities, upon the recommendation of scientists and wildlife experts, upgraded Nanda Devi Sanctuary to national park status. One year later, all treks, expeditions, and grazing were banned in the core area (the inner Sanctuary), including mountaineering on the main peak. Nanda Devi East remained open from the south side.

Nanda Devi PN is now one of UNESCO’s Biosphere Reserves. It is considered a ‘Strict Nature Reserve’ in the WCMC Protected Areas Program. In June 2003, the reserve was opened up to limited tourism. The new plan allows 500 visitors a year to enter the reserve under strict surveillance and itineraries. The future of the area and the possibility of opening Nanda Devi to climbers depends on how the natural resources of the area evolve. "

rickshawwallah

m2,

In this case, google was not your friend.
People have for years advertised trips to the "Nanda Devi Sanctuary", but the area has indeed been closed to nearly all comers since the early 1980s. What you found in your google search was deceptive advertising, plain and simple. "Nanda Devi Sanctuary" has become a term that trekking companies use to describe anything from remote treks on the eastern flank of the Nanda Devi massif to just trails where one can get a peek of the mountain. There has been a slight relaxation of the ban, allowing people to get a bit closer to the true sanctuary, but it's still a long way from actually letting people inside. More detail is in this post

About the sanctuary being "nuke polluted": I have never heard of any increased incidence of cancer or other possibly radiologically induced sicknesses among the villagers of Lata, Tapoban, or any of the other villages near the Rishi Ganga. I like the suggestion of using a geiger counter to test for contamination.

Merchant

IndiaMike should sponsor an inflitration team, geiger-equipped. Black pyjamas, cork-smudged faces. We could take some readings and pictures. Does anyone have a handheld GPS unit? This site could blow the lid off whatever's going on.

1sg3

One can actually travel to Dibrugheta, which lies beyond the Dharansi pass. So technically, the sanctuary is partially open. You are not allowed to go beyond though. I did this trip in October and it is spectacular. Photos at http://www.netecho.com/photos

-m2-

spectacular indeed! nice pictures

Hippie at Heart

1sg3, you are right about your observation but from discussion and actually sighting point of view we are considering the core area to be closed for one and all. It is not possible to deter a strong willed climber though from such a ban. This happens all the time around peaks near Leh, seasoned climbers wilfully scale peaks that require a fee to be paid to Indian Mountaineering Foundation. If caught they simply say they lost their way or else they can just gingerly get down and prepare to assault another peak next day.

Yeti, you are right about the satellite use for spying, but I guess they choose the nuke device to outrun even the satellite and it seemed viable as well, given the economics and technology involved those days. Only if we poor folks have reasonable access to satellite data, we would know many things for sure about Himalayas they never tell. I for one would really want to peer down and see if Eric Shipton and Tillman really got it right, Badri-Kedar in one day.

Merchant, I do have a GPS unit and up to this expedition, say we make you official fund raiser/collector for this trip, you reckon you being the patron collector your contribution have to be sizable

Jeroen

In his book The Nanda Devi Affair, Bill Aitken also talks about the stories involving nuclear-powered spy devices hauled up the hill, left behind for activation the next season but missing on arrival after the snow melted. He hints that it doesn't sound a little conspirational and not very likely to him. As a climber allowed inside the inner sanctuary, he does however describe the damage that grazing animals do to flora and the negative effect that they and the shepherds dogs have on the wild blue sheep living in the sanctuary. It's certainly a fragile ecosystem and it sounded logical to me that it would be closed off.

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Merchant

Yes, well, since this is black ops, totally off the books, I'll have to keep most of the info to myself. You'll get a two-ring hang-up call on your cellphone at 3 AM. That's your cue to head to the cargo terminal of the airport, where a Gulfstream jet will collect you and your GPS unit. I'm having a little trouble with a certain Pakistani arms dealer, so if you have your own sidearm, pack it. Also, can you grab a Chinese/English dictionary on your way out?

jens

Funny funny merchant.

And great pics 1sg3

Rob_The_Pom

If you blokes are heading to Nandi Devi Sanctuary I'm in as well!
Can I be expedition photographer?
(Although I suspect 1sg3, and my mate Mistral will 'fight' me for it!)

Cheers

RTP

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Merchant

Rob, got some night-vision goggles? Infrared film?