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As per reports in Indian newspapers on 10th April 2000, the Government of India has opened up 20 virgin peaks and 176 other summits for mountaineering and trekking.
IMF ( Indian Mountaineering Foundation ), the nodal agency for mountaineering and trekking in India, managed to convince the Defence and Home ministries about the potential of these regions which have so far been closed or 'restricted'.
These sensitive regions border Pakistan and China and have so far been off limits for trekking and mountaineering expeditions.
This essentially means that getting permisions to trek or climb in these regions will no longer be a hassle of months but a matter of days.
Most of these peaks are over 20,000 feet in height with varying degrees of difficulty. Fifty six lie in the mountains of Uttar Pradesh, fifty nine in Himachal Pradesh, fifty four in Jammu & Kashmir and the fourteen in Sikkim.
Largely, the opening up is attributed to improved security perceptions vis-a-vis China.
Commercial considerations, have also been instrumental with the employment provided by expeditions to local porters and guides, besides the royalty paid for peaks that stands at $1500 for those up to 6,500 metres and $ 4,000 for those in restricted areas.
Do keep a watch on the IMF web site. The link is here in my list of links. Go To Page: 1 |
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