Indian scientists hoist tricolour at South Pole

New Delhi, Nov 22 (PTI) Braving sub-zero temperatures and
chilly winds, a team of Indian scientists Monday hoisted the
tri-colour at the South Pole after a treacherous nine-day
expedition.

"We feel at the top of the world at the bottom here,"
Rasik Ravindra, Director of India's National Centre for
Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), told a tele-conference
from the South Pole this evening.
The eight-member team of scientists and technicians
raised the tri-colour at the South Pole at 0130 IST today, the
first Indian scientific team to do so.
"It is very cold here. The current temperature in minus
70 degrees Celsius if you consider the chill factor," Ravindra
said.
The team braved the icy winds and treacherous terrain to
reach the South Pole -- 90 degrees south latitude -- to
commemorate the centenary of Norwegian explorer Roald
Amundsen's feat.
The team had set-off on the sojourn from 'Maitri', the
Indian research station in eastern Antarctica on November 13.
"It took us nine days and five halts to traverse 2360 kms
to the geographic South Pole," Ravindra said.
The team will be camping at the South Pole till
Wednesday, when they begin their journey back to Maitri.
"This is the first Indian scientific expedition to the
South Pole," Earth Sciences Secretary Shailesh Nayak said
here.
The team conducted experiments, gathered atmospheric data
and collected ice cores from the frozen continent in their bid
to understand the changes in the environment over past 1,000
years.
Besides Ravindra, Ajay Dhar, Javed Beg, Thamban Meloth,
Asit Swain, Pradip Malhotra, Krishnamurthy and Surat Singh
are part of the team.
Amundsen had reached the South Pole on December 14, 1911
in dog-drawn sledges. Indian scientists used special sport
utility vehicles (SUV) for their journey.
Experiments involving geomorphology -- the study of
landforms and geophysics -- which includes movements of
tectonic plates were conducted in the course of their journey.
These studies are expected to add to the knowledge of how
the ancient landmass, once fused with other continents in a
super-continent before being separated 200 million years ago,
has evolved, he said. PTI SKU