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Diwan Singh has a place in the history of exploration of the Nanda Devi Sanctuary. Today he is possibly one of the few persons alive who were with the first team of Shipton and Tilman in 1934 which explored the route to the Nanda Devi Sanctuary. He may be old, 95 years of age, but was certainly alert and energetic.
With a sense of humour, he narrated several experiences. He had carried load for the ‘two Angrez’ (as he called Shipton and Tilman team) and stayed at various camps en route when Shipton and Tilman explored routes. He reached Sarso Patal and returned with them when the monsoon arrived.
When they returned to the Sanctuary after the rains, they did not take any locals with them, as the plan was to descend across the Sunderdhunga chal to the south. Amongst his companions with the 1934 team Diwan Singh remembers Ang Tharkey and his ponytail well. For his efforts, in 1934 he was given a Re.1 Victoria Silver coin and a ‘metered’ Pressure Cooker. He sold both these for Rs. 500 and used the money for his own marriage, he added with a laugh.
He continued going with other teams later to the Nanda Devi Sanctuary and other areas. He was with the French team (1951), which attempted to traverse the two peaks of Nanda Devi. The French killed too many bharals and birds en route to the base camp, which according to Diwan Singh was chhejan, a bad omen. The two summiteers perished on the mountains. He remembers the various American expeditions (in mid-sixties) too. ‘Many Americans came looking for gold in the Sanctuary. They went in with huge boxes.’[2] (He had carried one of the boxes). He felt that the death of Nanda Devi Unsoeld on the Nanda Devi peak was ordained. The goddess was displeased.
I asked him whether he required any medicine. With a laugh he said, ‘can you give any water to dry wood? At this age no medicine will work on me’.
‘Do you require anything, have any wish? I asked.
‘Only thing remains is death, dying in the warmth of the great Himalaya where I have lived my whole life’. He had never been beyond Chamoli in the hills and had not seen the plains. The Himalaya and goddess Nanda Devi had given him everything he needed.
The Problems
The negotiations for rates were over but as the expedition was ready to move, awaiting porters, the Pradhan of Lata village came with a ‘resolution’ on paper and a printed receipt book. He wanted us to obtain a ‘permit’ from him and wanted us to pay Rs. 5/- per day per person as fee to enter the Sanctuary. We refused to do so as it would set a wrong precedent for all other villages to follow and only the Uttaranchal Government or its representatives are authorised to issue any permit and collect money. After long arguments, the porters went on strike and refused to carry luggage for the expedition. This seems to be a new and threatening development in the Himalaya. The villagers were not wrong in their demands too for they were promised a lot when the Sanctuary was closed first, but nothing was done. They feared that when the Sanctuary opens to trekkers and climbers again the main benefits would go to outsiders and they would be left in lurch again.
I had a job to do so I spread the word with other porters, some of whom I knew from my previous two visits, about the large amount of cash I was carrying for them to earn as porterage on the current expedition and I threatened to return home with the goodies. Temptation was name of the game and the ‘principles’ could not last against such a large one. After few hours, Pradhan and porters returned, lured by the money they were to earn.[3]
Chhino – Jhapto
A movement in the name of ‘Chhino – Jhapto’ literally meaning, ‘Grab and Take Away’ was started in July-August 1998 by the villagers of Lata. This was a protest against the closer of the Sanctuary since 1982. The idea was to take over the grazing land and forcibly enter the reserved forest for grazing/cultivation and collection of medicinal herbs. According to them when the Sanctuary was closed in 1982, the villagers were promised alternative grazing rights in the forest division of Badrinath section. Unfortunately, even after almost 20 years their plight was not attended to.
During the protest, many villagers gathered at the Lata village and climbed up to Lata kharak, Dharashi and crossed into the core area of the
Sanctuary at Dibrugheta. Their plan was to camp in the forest reserve for months in a relay and break rules of the National Park. Later while trekking in to the area we could read the slogans written by them on the rock walls and trees. The Government in response had sent the District Magistrate for negotiations. When these failed, a contingent of Police Armed Constabulary (PAC) was sent but the villagers could not be stopped. However, after about a month, the protest fizzled out and villagers returned back from the prohibited area.[4]
The Trail
With the problems now behind us we started on the famous trail to the inner Sanctuary of the Nanda Devi. We climbed from the roadhead to Lata village (2 km) on a well-cemented track. The famous Nanda Devi temple was situated above the village. After offering prayers, we followed a broad foot track to Belta Kharak and next day, to Lata Kharak. The trail zigzags up the steep slopes through beautiful forest. On top of the ridge, we came across a forest hut that had been built in 1995.
The footpath ends at Doni Dhar. A narrow trail led us to the Dharanshi pass, a name given by Shipton and Tilman. The map calls it Barf kina dhar (ridge of snow). Across the pass, one has to descend and traverse across the Satkulas (seven nalas). From the last nala one can descend to the lower Dharanshi camping ground. However, the present route climbs steeply up the last nala and traverses for 3 km to a higher plateau called Rani khola. Our third day’s camp was established on this ground. Ahead, we had to cross the second famous pass, Malatoni[5] (garland ridge). We reached the pass, which is under the Malatoni peak, after traversing a distance of 2 km. This was what the explorers had named ‘the Curtain Ridge’. We saw Nanda Devi briefly from here. The trail descended more than 1000 m to an open green ground of Dibrugheta, named after god ‘Dibru’.
By this time we had established camaraderie with the porters who were a friendly lot. I chatted with Dinesh, a local lad who was carrying a heavy load.
‘I have appeared for my final school exams and am awaiting results. I thought I must see the Sanctuary about which elders have told me many stories’.
Ultimately, he wanted to be employed in the plains and undertake a government service. Most of the younger lot was educated and were carrying loads out of curiosity. When we paid wages, unlike in the past, all of them could sign their names, some of them in English. If involved in environment protection of the Sanctuary, this educated generation can surely bring a new life to the area. They appreciated the need for protection but pleaded helplessness to do anything in face of stronger forces.
From Dibrugheta, a steep climb through forest led to an open ground followed by a delicate traverse for 3 km. At the end of it, we descended a broad nala to the Rishi ganga river. There was no bridge so we constructed one with three aluminium ladders. Across the river we continued, after a camp at Deodi, on the trail with a steep climb through forest and an easy traverse of about 3 km to Shikari Udiar. This is a large cave where Shikaris (hunters) used to stay. ‘Used to stay’ are perhaps wrong words to use as we could observe that the trail and caves were well used in recent times. There were signs of poaching, cutting of trees and the area was far from ‘closed’ for so many years. Our porters also had many stories to tell.
The trail descended steeply to the Trisul nala, which we crossed by a natural rock bridge. Soon we were at Ramani, at the foot of the historic Rishi gorge. This gorge was the key to the exploration of the route to the inner sanctuary of Nanda Devi and it took many years for this riddle to be solved by early explorers. [6]
The Rishi Gorge
The trail climbed steeply, first through rhododendron bushes and then on rocky terrain. From some points, there were good views of the main peak. As the trail turned after a long traverse, suddenly we were at the foot of ‘The Slab’. This is a slope of downward sloping rocks where we had to fix ropes. After negotiating it carefully we were at the traditional camping site of Bhujgara midway through the gorge.
The trail was now what locals called the ‘Tel-mel bat’ (crooked trail). This ended in a pinnacle like feature, which was highly exposed. After a steep climb with fixed ropes, we were again at another famous point, ‘Vaikunth Sidi’ (Staircase to Heaven) which was dangerous and exposed. No wonder it is so named, for if you climb this you reach the heaven of Nanda Devi, if you fall you reach heaven anyway! Climbing the huge slopes over rocks and juniper we finally reached the top of the ridge; ‘The Pisgah’ (The Promised Land) and we were inside the famed Sanctuary. The campsite, Patalkhan (mine of slabs) was nearby.
In the Sanctuary
From Patalkhan we had to cross an exposed slope, where we fixed rope, for one slip can take you to the Rishi ganga. After a large rock fall area, we reached the vast plains of the Southern Sanctuary with excellent views of Nanda Devi. We decided to make our base here, next to a spring, from where different parties would visit various areas of the Sanctuary. This place was christened Chaubata (four paths) and a small temple was constructed and consecrated to mark our camp.[7]
From this base camp we had wonderful views of Nanda Devi but unfortunately the famed ‘Golden Sunset’, only for one evening. Soon everyone was busy in different activities in smaller sub-groups.
One of the first move was that Suman Dubey had to unfortunately leave next morning by helicopter as he developed high blood pressure. Two scientists, Dr. Sarfaraz and Anand Pendharkar, with a support team, made a camp ahead of Sarso Patal near the confluence of two glaciers; the Dakhini Nanda Devi glacier and the Dakhini Rishi glacier. They spent days collecting water samples, rock samples, observing bharals, birds and other fauna in the Sanctuary. Rupin Dang and his support team had filmed the entire route and the expedition on video and had undertaken many studies on the flora and fauna of the route. From Chaubata, they visited the Southern Sanctuary and higher slopes towards Nanda Dekhni Dhar before returning early on 16 June.
I stayed at Chaubata and organised the construction of a bridge across the Dakhini Rishi glacier so that we could visit the Northern Sanctuary. After great difficulties the bridge was made and team was about to cross over to visit Rishi Tal, a lovely lake in the Northern Sanctuary. However, due to the early arrival of monsoon, this plan had to be given up. The grand finale of our activities was two treks accomplished by Motup Chewang.
Sunderdhunga Khal (5550 m)
On 14 June, Motup with 2 Sherpas, Samgyal and Dukpu, left Chaubata and reached the Dakhini Rishi glacier where they camped at 4800 m. The next day, they traversed the upper slope, keeping above the glacier moraine and finally descending to cross the moraine. They climbed on the right of the glacier and camped on a small snow plateau at 5000 m. June 16 was partly cloudy and they started early, around 5.00 a.m. First they traversed under the slopes of peak ‘Cream Roll’, which is to the east of Sunderdhunga col. The western slopes of Sunderdhunga col[8] are broken and avalanched regularly. They emerged a little above Sunderdhunga col on the east and descended to the col at 8.00 a.m. They saw a small clearing for camping on the south of the pass as well as an old cairn, possibly made in 1934.
After half an hour they returned and the descent was quick and they returned to Chaubata the same evening, tired but satisfied. This had been a strenuous outing but they had the satisfaction of clear views and being the first party in 67 years to reach the Sunderdhunga col, after Shipton- Tilman in 1934.
We were poised to enter the Northern Sanctuary when persistent bad weather turned in to heavy rain. On 19 June, monsoon arrived in the area, a couple of weeks earlier than usual. The radio was issuing warnings. As we had to descend the dreaded Rishi gorge on return, it seemed wiser to call off the expedition and return to the Lata village. Very carefully, we re-crossed the difficult sections of the Rishi gorge and we crossed some of the high passes amidst heavy rain, which was a harrowing experience.
Nanda Dekhni Dhar
The rain did not stop our last exploration. Motup, Samgyal and our guide, Kalyan Singh, decided to return across the high col above Chaubata.
This pass connects the inner Sanctuary with Trisul nala and was used by enterprising shepherds to bring the flock into the inner Sanctuary. They discovered several cairns erected by them during 1978 – 1982.[9]By using this route shepherds could bring the herds into the inner sanctuary, which was one of the reasons why the area had to be closed.
They started from Chaubata on 19 June in rather uncertain weather. At first they traversed across 3-4 steep gullies to reach a small nala to Patalkhan. They climbed up this nala and camped at 5000 m, having walked almost 7 hours that day. This camp was a little below the Nanda Dekhni Dhar. Views from this camp were vast and exquisite. Peaks of the North Sanctuary, Trisul nala, Dunagiri and distant peaks of Chaukhamba group were visible though Nanda Devi remained under cloud.
20 June was a brilliant day. First they descended a little to cross the slopes of the upper Bhujgara nala and finally reached the col and crossed over into the Trisul valley. The descent was steep, across gullies going south and traversing towards Tridang, the base camp of Trisul. They descended to 4400 m over a few grassy slopes but mostly rocky gullies. They found several cairns up to the lowest point they reached in the Trisul nala, indicating that this was the route used by the shepherds in the past. However on the lower slopes a large section had broken off and they tried traversing on a small ridge for almost four hours, trying to locate a route across the ridge. This would have allowed them to descend to the Trisul nala. However, finding no route, they had to climb back to the col and camp above the Bhujgara nala completing a long day of 12 hours. Next day they started to descend the Bhujgara nala and joined the traditional route through the Rishi gorge.
Their exertions were not in waste. With more time and clear weather, it will be possible to complete this route, from Tridang to Chaubata, by traversing diagonally across from Tridang which is traditional base camp for climbing Trisul. It offers the lower and probably, a less difficult access to the Inner Sanctuary.[10] A team can climb to the Nanda Dekhni Dhar to obtain excellent views of the Inner Sanctuary, without suffering the difficulties of the Rishi gorge or disturbing the Inner Sanctuary. This could be one of the environment friendly solutions for the future of the sanctuary.
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