Bengal climbers join 1st Indo-Bangla expedition to scale ‘roof of the world’

Kolkata: Explorers from West Bengal and Bangladesh are all set to attempt the Pamir, often called the “roof of the world”, in an over month-long expedition. This is the first joint exploration of India and Bangladeshi climbers. The team from India, which includes climbers from Kolkata and suburban areas, will leave the city on June 25.Pamir, a range of mountains and high-altitude plateaus, stretches through Tajikistan to Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan. Victorian explorers were the first to call the Pamir the roof of the world. The tectonic knot of the mountains and plateau spread across Asia through Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush, Kyrgyzstan’s Tian Shan range, China’s Kunlun as well as the Himalayas. Three branches of the Silk Route also crossed the Pamir.“The historical significance of the route drew us to explore the Pamir. History books tell us that Babur crossed the Pamir and Hindukush mountains to reach Punjab. That is what prompted us to research the explorers to Pamir. We have been pondering over this exploration for the past three years. However, there could be very few explorers from India and we could not find their journey records,” said Debashish Biswas. Biswas, who has summitted several mountains, including Mount Everest, said that the lack of knowledge about the routes of the Pamir is the biggest challenge for them.“There are several records of the Pamir in history. They include the treatises of Ptolemy, Marco Polo and Benedict de Goes. Russian scientists, in the 19th century, also conducted several explorations of the area,” said Malay Mukherjee, another Everest summiteer who is also a part of the five-member Indian team.After leaving India, the team will first reach Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. They will be joined by two climbers from Bangladesh — Babar Ali and Tanvir Ahmed. The team will attempt more than 20 peaks before reaching the border of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. “The Pamir mountain system has the highest mountain here — Lenin Peak. With an altitude of 7,134 meter, it is the tallest in the Trans-Alay mountain range (northern most range of the Pamir system),” said Kiran Patra, another Everest summiteer. “The difficulties are mostly due to low temperature and periods of bad weather,” Patra added. With less knowledge about the area and no guide to show them the way, the team will have to find the routes themselves.