Shillong, March 20: The president of India Pranab Mukherjee today flag off the first mount Everest expedition from the north Eastern state.
The objective of the Mount Everest Expedition is to share the experiences of adventure-sports among the youths and to foster amongst them a spirit of risk taking, co-operative team work and create capacity of “ready and vital” response. It is also aimed at creating alertness amongst the participants to challenging situations and inculcate quality of ‘endurance’ in our young people.
Through adventure sports we also aim to enhance their leadership qualities and to enable them to understand the environment in which they live. This is a sport that pitches them against nature. This is a sport that exposes them to the natural environment and make them realise the importance of conserving our natural environment. Hon’ble President, Sir, this Mission will, we hope, teach them this and more. By putting youths from six NE States in same environment, we wish to create a cross-cultural understanding and help promote national integration.
This will be the first ever Mt. Everest expedition comprising Team members only from North East India. This Mission is funded by the NEC, Shillong and supported by the Planning Department, Government of Manipur. The Manipur Mountaineering and Trekking Association (MMTA), led by Dr. L. Surjit, is leading the Expedition.
The Manipur Mountaineering Trekking Association (MMTA) is committed to promoting this unique sport. It is their endeavor to give the youths of the region a platform where they can continuously engage themselves with nature. The MMTA imparts training in various adventure sports. It was recognised by the Govt. of Manipur as the State Adventure of Institute in the year 1992. I am happy to inform you, Sir, that it was none other than Sir Tenzing Norgay- the first person to scale Mt. Everest (along with Sir Edmund Hillary) who laid the Foundation Stone of MMI at Lamdan in Manipur on 27 December 1985.
Since then MMTA has been able to produce some excellent climbers including Mrs. G. Anita Devi who also became the first lady from North Eastern India to be conferred the prestigious Padmashree in 2004. Other pioneer climbers of MMTA include Mountaineer Shri Th. Thambou, Smt. B. Umeshowri Devi, Smt. M. Jamini Devi and Smt. Kh. Bedamani Devi. Mr. Nongmaithem Suraj Singh, who became the 1st Manipuri to scale Mt. Everest, is also a product of the MMTA. The MMTA can proudly claim to be the first voluntary organisation in the country to impart training to the Indian Army in Pre- Basic Mountaineering Course.
This is the first Expedition from the North Eastern State its include Mrs. Anshu Jamsenpa, the first lady from Arunachal Pradesh, who has scaled Mt. Everest twice already is a part of the Team and is daring to create history by scaling Mt. Everest for the third time. Mr. N. Chinkheinganba, 16 year old boy from Manipur, on completion of the Expedition will be the youngest to scale the Mt. Everest from the region. And it is the first Expedition supported by the NEC and the Government of Manipur.(SP News)
