World’s highest battlefield Siachen glacier 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.
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 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.
A ‘class 70’ bridge, which can withstand up to 70 tonne weight, was inaugurated across the Shyok river by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
The ‘Colonel Chewang Rinchen Setu’, built by the Border Roads Organisation, connects Durbuk and Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO), a 16,000-foot-high plateau 20 km short of the 18,726-foot-high Karakoram Pass that divides Ladakh and Xinjiang of China.
