27 August,2023 07:26 AM IST | Mumbai | Yogesh Pawar
Col Ranveer Singh Jamwal with team members at Mt Gorichen, the highest peak in Arunachal Pradesh
Ever since the Har Ghar Tiranga (HGT) campaign was launched last year to encourage people to bring the Tricolour home to mark the 75th year of India's Independence, an Army officer has nursed the desire to scale up the campaign. Literally! "I wanted to take the Tricolour to the highest peak of every Indian state," says Colonel Ranveer Singh Jamwal who has named his initiative Har Shikhar Tiranga (HST).
The 48-year-old Colonel Jamwal heads the National Institute of Mountaineering and Adventure Sports (NIMAS) and is originally from Badhori in Jammu's Samba district. Having already scaled all the seven highest summits - the highest mountain in each of the seven continents - and conquered Mt Everest thrice (2012, 2013 and 2016), he was aware of the significance and preparation needed for a campaign of this magnitude.
The topography, weather, and terrain were going to be different for all [summits], says the third generation Army man. "I've never put anyone on my team or myself in extreme danger during climbs; we only take calculated risks," shares the colonel. The 360-degree preparation, he says, included handpicking a team of "seven samurais" - all members of the Army, on deputation with NIMAS. They were selected after a physical fitness test, and rigorous training on higher altitudes.
The enthusiastic response from senior authorities in the Ministry of Defence was a huge morale booster. "A letter [from the Ministry] was formally sent to the chief secretaries of all the states informing them of our campaign, which made coordination with local authorities easier," says the colonel, who is a recipient of the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award, India's highest honour for adventure sports.
The campaign kicked off in October 2022, and will conclude in October this year. "We began with summiting Mt Gorichen in Arunachal Pradesh and will end at Mt Jongsong in Sikkim," Col Jamwal tells mid-day. The team has already completed 16 of the 28 states, and has 12 more to go, including Sosogad (3,366ft) in Goa, Anamudi (8,842 ft) in Kerala, and Jongsong (24,482 ft) in Sikkim. "Our relationship with the flag has always been more formal and institutional, and not personal. When the HGT campaign brought the national banner to every home, it established and underlined a personal connection to the flag," he says. HST, he says, will help in furthering the pride in the Tricolour.
Two weeks ago, on August 15, Col Jamwal and his team scaled Maharashtra's highest peak Kalsubai (1,646 metres elevation) in less than three hours. The logistics for each summit are completely different. "Sikkim's Mt Jongsong has a window period of little over a month in September. At 7,462 metres, this is the 57th highest peak in the world and located close to the tri-point of the India-Nepal-China boundary. Creating camps en route, and taking them down when we return also takes time." An environment conservationist, Col Jamwal says he is particular about keeping every summit clean.
The Har Shikhar Tiranga team at Kalsubai in Akole taluka, which at 1,646 metres is Maharashtra's tallest peak
HST has also become a major milestone in India's cartographic journey. "During research, we realised some states weren't even aware of their highest peak, or there were multiple claimants to the title," he says, adding, "HST has spurred the states to use the latest technology to establish correct information for posterity." He cites the example of Punjab, where the HST team was told that the highest mountain was Naina Devi. "But that is a whole mountain range and we had to mark the highest point on that range."
His spouse Kiran used to be nervous about his adventures. "My husband first scaled the 5,393 m-tall Mt Machoi ( in Ladakh) in October 2007. At the time, there'd be long, anxious periods with no word from him due to lack of connectivity," she tells us. Over the years, she got used to the idea. "But there was always this niggling worry at the back of my mind."
That has changed with HST. "I'm now the weather woman for the campaign. Whenever they are summiting, I keep giving them local weather updates about the region. This means he has to call me daily," she laughs. Col Jamwal admits that Kiran has had a big role to play in his achievements. "If she hadn't taken over the responsibility of running the family and home, including caring for our children and both our parents, I'd never achieve my dream."
