Exchange Siachen Madness for Mountain Peace

After decades, Siachen Glacier is making news for all the right reasons. Demilitarisation of the glacier as an option to resolve the dispute about it has been on the table since late 1980s. When the then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had come to Pakistan to attend a summit meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) during the first government of Benazir Bhutto, an agreement for demilitarisation had been all but signed. The only thing that could have materialised -- that is, the willingness of the two militaries -- was never forthcoming.

Now enjoy quality WATER...as , reforesting lands surrounding Siachen glacier will improve water quality.
``Water Joke`` for the redears

A man goes to the doctor and tells him that he hasn`t been feeling well. The doctor examines him, leaves the room and comes back with three different bottles of pills. The doctor says:
``Take the green pill with a big glass of water when you get up. Take the blue pill with a big glass of water after lunch. Then just before going to bed, take the red pill with another big glass of water.``
Startled to be put on so much medicine the man stammers:
``Please Doctor tell me, exactly what`s my problem?``
Doctor says,
``You`re not drinking enough clean water.``


................that is problem with the Authers of this Article!!!!!!!!!!..........Ha Haaaaaaaa.......

Indian Army plantting trees to save Water for Pakistan.
Look at the latest step taken by Indian..
Siachen soldiers go green

A mention of Siachen ~ the world’s highest, costliest and coldest battlefield ~ reminds us of a huge expanse of a river of snow extending from heights ranging from 15,000 to 21,000 feet in the great Himalayan range. This barren stretch of rugged terrain is one of the most inhospitable places in the world.
The glacier and its adjoining areas will look quite different as the Army’s Siachen Brigade has initiated the “Green Siachen” project in its areas of operation. Siachen will become a green paradise, a few years from now.
With the endeavour of the 102 Infantry Brigade, Siachen has witnessed massive afforestation in an effort to cover the desolate expanses of rock and snow with vegetation on the frozen frontiers. Taking note of global warming, a burning issue worldwide, the Army has planted more than one lakh saplings in the Siachen sector. Being a high altitude, cold desert, Ladakh already poses a challenge in terms of irrigation and afforestation. Falling in the Siachen axis, the valleys of Nubra and Shyok, as elsewhere in Ladakh, are characterised by minimal precipitation and paucity of vegetation, resulting in low oxygen levels, a common feature in the high altitudes.
But no longer will such a situation prevail, given the enthusiasm of the Siachen Brigade. Having planted saplings near the snout of the glacier and the Nubra and Shyok valleys which do not remain snow-bound round the year, the soldiers are now nourishing the plants. “The highest battleground of the world with snow-clad, lofty mountains has sub-arctic climatic conditions, devoid of any vegetation from its foothills,” says Lt-Gen JK Mohanty, Corps Commander, of the Leh-based 14 Corps. The Army has essentially planted saplings to increase oxygen levels.
Each soldier posted on the glacier, while moving further up on the gruesome heights of the Saltoro Ridge, has planted at least five saplings. The responsibility to keep these saplings alive till he returns from his tenure at the glacier is given to another soldier. On his return, he looks after his own saplings as well as those planted by his fellow soldier, while the latter is away.
The exercise to green the Siachen glacier was kick-started by General Mohanty four months ago by planting saplings at the Siachen snout, at a height of 12,300 feet. The target was to plant 1,2000 saplings, signifying the 102 Siachen Brigade under project Green Siachen.
But the number has crossed the target and the plantation drive continues in certain areas.
“We wanted to improve the habitat on which we have spent years with the aim of reducing soil erosion, improving water conservation and oxygenating the rarefied atmosphere,” said Brigadier Om Prakash, commander of Siachen Brigade, adding that the effort is also a quantum leap for the survival of the region’s fauna.
In an area that remains under snow for more than six months, this drive has remained successful. “Afforestation is important. The area is prone to erosion due to wind and water. That can be saved over the years,” says scientist, FRL, Siachen Brigade, Dr Ankur Aggarwal.
Executing the task was not easy. The entire brigade area was divided into Nubra and Shyok. The areas selected were not restricted to Army camps and posts but even villages along Nubra and Shyok.
With the area being allocated, the units began preparations by first carrying out a reconnaissance to select the sites, followed by digging pits, adding village soil to them, making watering arrangements and collecting manure.
Tulu pumps were used for pumping water; check dams were built to channel the water. Water was channelled from rivers and nullahs to the plantation area. Pumps with generators were used to pump out water from tanks to save manpower and time. Then saplings suited to the area such as willows, poplars and seabuck thorn were collected.
The sapling requirement was met from branches grafted from the trees in villages nearby and sia bushes (sia means wild rose) in the neighbourhood. If planting the saplings was not an easy job, ensuring their survival is tougher.
The guardians of the frozen frontiers are carefully nurturing the plants and improvising methods to save manpower and for timely completion of work.
As winter prevails in Ladakh, the saplings in Siachen are being protected from the extreme cold. They are covered with soil from the villages and wrapped in polythene. “This is an indigenous method we learnt from the villagers. We will re-open the cover with the onset of spring when the saplings sprout leaves,” said Colonel Sunil Kumar, commanding officer of a unit posted at the Siachen Base Camp.
“We have planted at least 1, 17,538 saplings. Nurturing, watering and keeping them alive is a challenging task for which an action plan is in place. The fact that the saplings have survived goes to prove the care they receive,” he added.
Today, the cold desert stands greener than ever. Orchards and lush green crops bear testimony to the fact that it is possible to achieve the impossible, with determination

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Further to # 94, it also was during the Congress rule that the militancy in Jammu and Kashmir began , the cause being the Congress rulers in the Centre tried to rig the election in the state

#93 by Pardesi

Yaar Pardesi, thanks for the kind words. Indeed, we still have ages to go when it comes to valuing human life, irrespective of religion because underneath the skin, we`re all the same. Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, or Christian, we all bleed red. The day we recognize this, we`ll be a far different people than we are right now.

Re #93

The poster is obviously and justifiedly still carrying the scars of what happened during the miltancy in Punjab and the following unfortunate killing of Indira and even more unpardonable massacre of the Sikhs. No words are enough to condemn what happened and most of us are sympathetic to these unfortunate events.

Unfortunately right from before partition the Congress party has been the main villain for the Nation . Nehru bartered away Pakistan because he wanted the premiership. In 1948 Kashmir conflict India`s generals had requested for one more week to liberate entire Kashmir, Nehru decided to take the issue to UN. Had he heeded to the Army`s advice, we would have had a border with Afghanistan, got a direct land route to USSR and we would have been consulted on Afghan matters. This folly has allowed Pakistan to play the dog in the manger as for as our access to the Westerly countries is concerned.
In 1962 during Congress rule India had to face a humiliating defeat at China`s hands and today those dirty chinks are sitting on our territory. Instead of accepting the failure, Nehru had the cheek to say that the land we lost was like his bald (i think empty as well) head, where not a blade of grass grew.
The Congress alone has to be blamed for the unfortunate events in Punjab. By building up Bhindranwale Indira not only cooked her own goose but alienated the Sikh population by the assault on Harmandir Saheb. Her son Rajiv allowed the mayhem against Sikhs and created a further schism between the Sikh population and the rest of the country. With these stupid policies Congress cut off the sword arm of the Nation, because after the discrimination, suffering, killings, insults and ignominy that they have had to go through in those years it is anybody`s guess whether this magnificent community will wholeheartedly fight for the Nation in any future war as they had done in the previous ones.

The Congress under Rajiv created another blunder by sending the Indian troops to Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankans were laughing in their sleeves while our army was engaging the Tamil rebels, the same country which was earlier training Tamil tigers.

The Congress has not had enough , it wants to do further damage, the scoundrels VP Singh and Arjun Singh have ensured that caste system will survive for ever, let the country go to the dogs.

Now Congress has a foreign natonal as its party head and are flouting it too.

Re: # 75

Harish,

That was a very good post.

When I said “Hindu culture” what I meant was the composite ancestral culture of which we all are product of whether today we call ourselves Sikhs, Hindus or Muslims. Practically all of us are part of it (and it needs tremendous upgrade), since none of us came from Mars, Mecca or Madina. Sikh gurus tried major upgrades, succeeded quite a bit at the time, but job is not done. Gautam Buddha and Gandhi also tried to change our ways and you know what happened to Gandhi and Buddhism. Muslims tried to get some good values from Arabs but seems like they have not gone much further from their roots either except a few superficial changes and I will not go into a few not so great values that I wish they had not acquired from Arabs.

So my point is that while there are many things that we all can be proud of (curious and analytical minds for one) there are huge weaknesses that over time can sink us like it did earlier in our history. Remember we invented zero, built Somnath, Ajanta and magnificent Mohanjodaro and Taxila and thought we were the “sone ki Chidiya” and still winded up in shit holes for centuries.

Biggest weakness is sycophancy- leaders get killed and people are hanged right away while no real action is taken when ordinary folks get butchered. Not only that, Federal government sponsors killings and the Bewkoof public celebrates because they have been conditioned to think that either “Bharat Mata is in danger” or “Islam is in danger” if anything happened to the leaders. Take India for example, Indira gets killed; tens of thousands of people get butchered by the new prime minister. Next time Rajiv is killed, there is not much of reaction since by that time people had been unconditioned. Now after 16 years, when India is doing much better that this Kashmiri gang is gone, every smart and successful person is screaming at top of his lungs that these bastards were the worst thing that happened to India. Real question is where were these smart folks when Indira was so adamant in keeping such tight control from her Delhi darbar.

In effect, life is cheap and we have poor law and order situation unless you play along what the elite wants and do what’s in vogue. Our (Indian or Pakistani) elites are very cunning and smart and have the best Harvard/Oxbridge vocabulary and will keep their interests protected and just like in old days, these folks want to teach people lesson if they dare to speak up or threaten their interests. The instruments have changed but result is same. Just look at Pakistani folks writing about their feudal system and how that mafia controls the country or what our jamidars do to Harijans or what Indira / Rajiv did to Sikhs. Net result – people stop giving damn about anything other than making money by hook or crook and mantra is screw other folks. Corruption and self survival become the second nature.

This is my last post on the topic. Please feel free to write your thoughts. This gets me very upset and since all this effort is really worthless anyway, why bother. It’s much better to watch 24 show and see how Jack Bauer is going to save our civilized western world.

Regards.

The strategic importance of the Siachen glacier is self evident, India can monitor the activities of china and Pakistan, while sitting at higher place.

The recent reports of IPCC [The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] consists of world`s leading climate scientists, in their most powerful language ever used on the issue, said global warming is ``very likely`` man-made. In the report, it is warned and advised decision maker that human activities are causing global warming and the same practice continues then the probable temperature rise by the end of the century will be between 1.8C and 4C (3.2-7.2F),Possible temperature rise by the end of the century ranges between 1.1C and 6.4C (2-11.5F),Sea levels are likely to rise by 28-43cm,Arctic summer sea ice is likely to disappear in second half of century ,It is very likely that parts of the world will see an increase in the number of heat-waves and Climate change is likely to lead to increased intensity of tropical storms. The report by a group of hundreds of scientists and representatives of 113 governments contains the most authoritative science on the issue. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).
In my opnion the India have to play the roll of big brother have to vocate glacier for beterment of south-asia.

#81 by muqaddam

The poster at #80 has unwittingly admitted that it was Pak Army which was involved in the `47 Agression of Kashmir, a fact which has been all along denied by Pakistan saying it was a local uprising.

And those who say that the use of non-state actors like terrorists began with military dictators are being a bit facetious here. It began right in 1947 when the Paki government (led by Jinnah) used a mix of tribals from the Frontier province and armed forces regulars to invade the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

AJK or PIK, ask the Kashmiries living in north America

Hey bhangilauroo #87 ...

sure..keep AJK.....thanks for giving up IOK for good by your inability to get it back..

So who`s fighting to get it back? Not me. Your 700,000 macaca troops are not at the Pak/Hindooland borders .. they`re inside territory under your `own` control .. haha ....

#85 by zeemax on February 20, 2007 7:24am PT


Haha ... Mrs. Zeemax just got me tea


I always knew you guys were too poor to own a cab medallion so you had to share one..is this the same kind of deal?


thanks for giving me AJK for good


umm..sure..keep AJK.....thanks for giving up IOK for good by your inability to get it back..

Siachen glacier is now in save hands, othewise pakistani may melt it with laser.
please check BBC and New science reports

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1248980.stm
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2001/298510.htm

#83 by bhangi_lauroo

Haha ... Mrs. Zeemax just got me tea ... while Mrs. bhangi_lauroo is not yet back from turning tricks last night to make ends meet for the lower-middle class trailer park economic migrant from bhangi_lauroo ..

:~)