Himalayan headway

Jamshedpur, March 7: After the Thar desert, it is time for a Himalayan climb.

The Tata Steel Adventure Foundation (TSAF) will shortly lead a team from corporate houses and schools for an outdoor development and education programme in the Himalayan range of Uttarakhand.

The journey will begin next month from the base camp at the Utrai village in Uttarkashi located at an altitude of 3,900 ft. Later, the participants will proceed in batches to the Darwa Top at 13,500 ft.

The participants are in for a lot of excitement as the base camp oversees the Assi Ganga river. After a four-day acclimatisation stint, that involves team-building exercises, the team will trek for six days before reaching the Darwa Top.

“We have also lined up a trekking programme near the picturesque Dodital Lake at 10,000 ft,” TSAF secretary P.P. Kapadia told The Telegraph.

He added that the objective behind the initiative is to develop an attitude among participants to face challenges in adverse conditions.

The participants include employees of Tata Motors (Jamshedpur and Lucknow), Jusco, North Delhi Power Company Ltd, Tata Chemicals (Mithapur, Haldia and Babrala), St Xavier’s, Bokaro, DAV Public School (Babrala) and Red-X, a club associated with Manipal University.

A four-member field staff of the TSAF comprising R.S. Pal, Pratim Bhowmik, Navindra Singh Panwar and L. Annapurna Devi will be leaving for the base camp on March 27.

“The field staff will reach the base camp in advance to work on the logistics,” Kapadia said.

TSAF chief and ace climber Bachendri Pal may also participate in the programme.