The
mountaineers of SSB have cleared the garbage and made the Himalayas
more beautiful
— Photo: PTI
SETTING AN EXAMPLE: Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil with
Sashastra Seema Bal mountaineers in New Delhi on Sunday.
NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil on
Sunday congratulated the mountaineers of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB)
conquered Mt. Jogin I and Mt. Jogin III on the Garhwal Kumaon Himalayas
in the Gangotri region of Uttarakhand.
Mr. Patil said the SSB's endeavour would not
only help promote adventure sports, but also address issues related to
ecology, pollution and global warming.
The 25-member team, led by Senior Instructor
at SSB Training Centre, Gwaldom, G.C. Shah, also cleared the garbage
left behind by earlier expeditions.
The team scaled the 21,210 feet Mt. Jogin I
at 8 a.m. on June 6 and the 20,065 feet Mt. Jogin III in the early
hours of June 7, braving grave weather. Mr. Patil flagged off the
expedition on May 25.
"The Himalayas are the most beautiful
mountains in the entire world. The mountaineers of SSB have cleared the
garbage and made it more beautiful, restoring the pristine glory of the
Himalayas. It's a praiseworthy work because it is an eco-friendly
effort," he said.
"Through a boating expedition from Patna to
Kolkatta down the Ganga, the SSB impressed upon the people the
importance of maintaining the purity of the mighty river. Through the
mountaineering expedition to Mt. Jogin, it has set an example before
the people and society about repairing the ecological damage caused by
mankind."
Mountaineers of the SSB have scaled and hoisted the Tricolour and the force flag on 252 mountains.
SSB Director-General Tilak Kak and Additional
Director General Vikram Srivastava thanked the Home Ministry for
encouraging such adventure activities.
SSB is a border guarding force under the
administrative control of the Home Ministry. It was set up in early
1963 in the wake of the India-China conflict to inculcate a sense of
national belonging among the people living in the border areas and
develop their capacity for resistance through a continuous process of
motivation, training, development, welfare programmes and activities.
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