‘Mission Atal’ Expedition: Four Himalayan Peaks Christened After Late Former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee

The team was flagged off on October 4 from Dehradun by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat.

Uttarkashi: Four peaks of the Himalayan range near Gangotri glacier have been named after India’s late former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Atal Bihari Vajpayee passed away at the ripe age of 93 on August 16, 2018. Named after the late prime minister, a joint expedition called “Mission Atal” was formed by a team from Uttarakhand Tourism Development Council and Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) for a mountaineering expedition.

The team was flagged off on October 4 from Dehradun by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat. After climbing the fours peaks on Saturday, the Mountaineers hoisted the tricolour, stated NIM principal Colonel Amit Bisht.

The heights of the four peaks scaled by the team measuring 6,557, 6,566, 6,160 and 6,100 metres were renamed as Atal-1, Atal-2, Atal-3 and 4, respectively. The peaks are situated on the right flank of Gangotri glacier near Sudarshan and Saifi peaks in Raktvan valley, added Colonel Amit Bisht, who is also the leader of the mountaineering team.

Last month, the state Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj told reporters in Dehradun that the idea was conceived in view of Vajpayee’s love for nature and mountains in particular.

The proposal was first sent to the state Tourism Minister on September 23 by Avdhesh Bhatt, a member of the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB). An NDTV report stated that the mountaineer had requested that a virgin peak be named after the former prime minister Vajpayee.

After the proposal received a nod from Chief Minister Trivendra Rawat, the team began their 15-day expedition to the unclimbed peak located in the Gangotri National Park. The expedition is over and the Survey of India, which is the main body that has the power to name mountains under the Indian territory, has also renamed the peaks.

(With PTI inputs)