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Gen JJ Singh, Chief of the Army Staff, flagged in the successful Artillery Mountaineering Expedition to Mount Dunagiri at a ceremony in New Delhi today. He congratulated all members of the expedition for this outstanding feat.
Mt Dunagiri proudly stands at a height of 7066M (23184 ft), in the massif of Garhwal Himalayas, and is located on the periphery of Nandadevi wild life sanctuary. The peak has vibrant mythological background as given in the epic Ramayana, it was from this mountain from which Lord Hanuman, chose to get the “Sanjivini Buti”(A very rare specie of Himalayan Ayurvedic medicinal plant) for saving the life of Lord Laxman.
The Gunners Mountaineering Expedition to Mt Dunagiri comprised of five Officers, three JCOs and twenty tow Other Ranks. Pre-selection training was done at Artillery Center, Nasik Road. The selected member ventured for a trekking expedition from Uttarkashi (Malla) to Kedarnath in Sep 2004, covering a distance of 150 Kms in 7 days. It was the old Ýatra’ route initially undertaken by the much famous Adiguru, Shri Shankaracharya to reach Kedarnath.
The team members did mountaineering courses from various prestigious institutes such a Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi (Uttaranchal Pradesh), Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling (West – Bangal) and Indian Army’s High Altitude Warfare School HAWS (Sonmarg, J&K).
On 24 Jun 05, a team of one officer and six Jawans summited Mt Dunagiri at 1505 hrs comprising of Captain Vimal, Havildar Devender, Havildar Shivale, Naik Balwinder, Gunner Anand, Gunner Mehta and Gunner Jamatia. The Expedition Administrative Officer was Col Surinder Yadav and the Doctor was Major S Chowdari.
The expedition also carried out following activities:-
(a) Cleaning of polyethene waste in the Nanda Devi Biosphere.
(b) Thirteen members scaled an unnamed peak (6112 meters).
(c) Medical camps were established at the remote villages of Dunagiri, Ruwing and Juma, thus treating 165 patients.
(d) Reconstruction of Dharamshala and School at Dunagiri Village.
(e) Refurbishment of the temple near Ruwing village.
(f) Planting of 150 Bhojpatra trees (whose bark was used during ancient times for calligraphy writing) at the Base Camp.
Among those present on the occasion were Lt Gen Charanjit Singh, Director General Artillery and Lt Gen Bhopinder Singh, Director General Military Training.
BMR/VJ/SSR
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