Now the whole world is sitting with its fingers crossed with the horror that the escalating Russia-Ukraine war might cause damage and serious leaks in the nuclear plants in southeast Kyiv. But close to home, a nuclear device meant for spying on China by the US and India in the Nanda Devi mountains in Himalayas still remains buried and untraced even after so many years. On top of it the top-secret device contained Plutonium, a highly radioactive chemical which can cause radiation.
Between 1965 and 1968, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), along with the Intelligence Bureau (IB) tried to place a nuclear-powered telemetry relay listening device on the summit of Nanda Devi after a long and undisclosed exercise in both countries. It involved many people starting from porters to mountaineers and top scientists. According to Manmohan Singh Kholi, the famous mountaineer who led the mission the device was around 56 kilograms heavy along with it a huge antenna, transceivers, and snap generator which were also carried to the peak. Reportedly the snap generator was half the size of the bomb dropped in Hiroshima and seven plutonium devices were also carried to the peak. This device was designed to intercept telemetry signals from missile test launches conducted in the Xinjiang Province of neighbouring China. When the team was about to reach the summit a serious snow blizzard struck their camp at 24,000 feet. Kholi had to tell the team to secure the device by making caves and putting it inside. It was tied with ropes and secured with batons.
It was not possible to continue with the mission due to extreme bad weather conditions. A year later, the team returned back but found that the device was missing, the ropes were broken and things had fallen due to an avalanche triggered by a snow blizzard. The whole device including the still case containing dangerous plutonium remains buried somewhere in the huge mounting range. This caused huge panic among intelligence agencies of India and the USA. The question still remains where the device vanished; this mystery could not be solved till today. Nanda Devi peaks were strategically very important as China was visible from there. India cooperated with the US since China had invaded India in 1962 and launched a full-scale war defeating the then underdeveloped country. China occupied many bordering areas and was also arming itself with nuclear arms posing a grave threat to India. In the villages located in the Himalayas generations of people believe that the nuclear device buried under the snow rocks up in Nanda Devi Mountain peak from time to time.
They also believe that nuclear devices are still active and can cause a catastrophe in the foothills. According to them the recent Chamoli floods were triggered by a glacier burst caused by the buried nuclear device. The local inhabitants claim that due to the presence of the nuclear capsule containing plutonium there has been an increased number of floods and ice calving in the region. But there is no scientific proof of this theory. According to Kholi, once the device hits a glacier it will keep sinking and will settle at the rock bottom and cannot cause any radiation or other damage. For ten long years Nanda Devi peak and surrounding Nanda Devi sanctuary were closed to the public for many years. Though this was a top-secret operation, it remained so till the late 1970’s. Later international media started reporting about it, forcing then Indian Prime Minister Morarji Desai to admit this secretive operation in Parliament. From 1966 till now a few search operations took place but nothing was found. The water samples were tested for radioactivity but there was no such proven trace. Some reports suggest that in 1993 a team found a round steel case in which the Plutonium devices were being carried. It is assumed that plutonium devices got separated from the steel protection. In this mission, Plutonium was used whose half-life or radioactive power to stop decay is around 88 years which means around three decades still left.
The issue was raked up recently when Uttarakhand tourism minister Satpal Maharaj spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But the concerns remain till the nuclear device is found. Nanda Devi is the second-highest mountain in Uttarakhand’s Garhwal Himalaya area. It is a UNESCO heritage site and considered a sacred place too. There are several legends about the mountains. But more than all these, the mountain range has a deep mystery buried inside.
By Gyansewar Dayal
Trending Now
Nov 2024
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