The Rotary Club of Darjeeling on Sunday inaugurated a mountain tracker at the Mall Road in Darjeeling, an initiative aimed at helping tourists and residents identify the various peaks of the Kanchenjunga massif visible from the hill town.

Rotarians Amar Rai and Tashi Pencho inaugurated the tracker in the presence of other club members.

The granite tracker, installed at a vantage point overlooking the Himalayan panorama, displays the names and positions of prominent peaks visible from Darjeeling on clear days, including Mt Kanchenjunga (8,586 metres), the world’s third-highest mountain, and several neighbouring summits in the range.

“Many tourists and even residents are unaware of the different peaks in the Kanchenjunga range visible from Darjeeling. The club decided to install the tracker to give accurate information to visitors and enhance their experience,” said a
club representative.

Strategically positioned along the Mall Road — one of Darjeeling’s most frequented tourist destinations — the tracker enables visitors to instantly identify the peaks spread across the eastern Himalayas.

“The peak information has been etched on granite and encased in a sturdy iron structure. The design also allows people to sit, take photographs and learn about the mountains before them,” said Pencho, the project chairman and past president of the club.

Mountain trackers and orientation tables are common features at scenic viewpoints across Europe, North America and other mountain destinations around the world, where they serve both educational and tourism-promotion purposes.

Although the project was completed in January this year, its formal inauguration was delayed because of persistent cloudy weather. However, as Sunday was clear, the mountain tracker finally made its debut, the club representative said.