New Delhi: Siachen glacier, world’s highest battlefield know for extreme cold weather and tough mountaineering terrain has been thrown open to tourists.
“The Siachen area is now open for tourists and tourism. From Siachen Base Camp to Kumar Post, the entire area has been opened for tourism purposes,” said defence minister Rajnath Singh in eastern Ladakh.
He was addressing a function to inaugurate Col Chewang Rinchin Bridge on Shyok river, located about 45 km from the county’s border with China.
He indicated that this step will make people appreciate the efforts put in by jawans, engineers and other workers who are deployed at such a difficult environment.
Defence minister said that Ladakh has tremendous potential in tourism and better connectivity in the newly created Union Territory would bring tourists in large numbers.
The Siachen Base Camp is at around 10,000 feet above sea level. From there, people will be able to trek on to Kumar Camp which is at 16,000 feet, the distance of the trek being 60 kilometers across 8-9 days.
The post is named after Colonel Narendra ‘Bull’ Kumar, who was one of the first officers who did extensive expedition of the Siachen helping India to launch Operation Meghdoot to secure the glacier in 1984.
