President of India Droupadi Murmu today flagged-off the “AMA Mount Kanchenjunga Expedition 2023”
MANAS BAROOAH

Guwahati, the 7th April: Hon’ble President of India Droupadi Murmu today flagged-off the “AMA Mount Kanchenjunga Expedition 2023” at State Guest House, Koinadhara here in the evening.
The brief ceremony was attended by Hon’ble Governor of Assam Gulab Chand Kataria and Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma along with senior officials of Assam Government, President’s Secretariat and office bearers of Assam Mountaineering Association.
In the early welcome to the President, Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma Chief Minister Assam & the Chef-de-Mission of this mega expedition greets her with a “fulam gamocha”. Satyen Sarma, the Chief Convener of the expedition organizing committee presented the expedition memento to the President.
The expedition souvenir was handed over by the President of Assam Mountaineering Association Dr. Debendra Nath Mahanta.
In her speech, President Droupadi Murmu expressed her deepest gratitude for being present in such a big endeavor prompted by the State Government of Assam along with Assam Mountaineering Association. She also shared her experience of Mt. Kanchenjunga and it’s vicinity that she witnessed in her official tour to Sikkim, she also added how the giant glows with the first ray of sunlight embracing the beauty of nature.
She in her speech blessed the team for glorious success and encouraged the team to give their best and also mentioned the bright future of mountaineering for thecoming generation.

After her speech, Smt. Murmu formally flagged-off this mega expedition by handing over Ice-axe Baton fitted with national flag and Assam Mountaineering Association flag to Expedition Leader Manash Barooah.
After the success of its first mega expedition to Mount Everest in 2016, the sole adventure sports association of the state Assam Mountaineering Association had planned to attempt Mount Everest again from China side (North face) in 2020. But due to Covid outbreak and subsequent restrictions imposed by Chinese Government, they had compelled to abandon the idea and shifted it to Mount Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain peak of the globe.
This expedition is fully sponsored by the Government of Assam through the Department of Sports & Youth Welfare and is the first ever organized attempt from the entire Northeast India to scale this toughest mountain where success rate is one third and death rate is more than double in comparison to Mount Everest.
For preparation of this expedition, the association had conducted several Pre Kanchenjunga Expeditions and conditioning camps in different parts of the Himalayas starting from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh.
The seven member main expedition team will be lead by one of the most experienced mountaineer from the state Manash Barooah, who was also the leader of 2015 and 2016’s Everest Expeditions from Assam. Another seasoned mountaineer and Associate Professor of Tezpur Medical College & Hospital Dr. Jagadish Basumatary will bear the responsibility of Dy. Leader cum Medical Officer in the team.
They will be assisted by Upen Chakraborty, a Senior Assistant from Printing & Stationery Department, Assam as Joint Deputy Leader. Kaushik Das, SI (UB) of Assam Police, Bhaskar Baruah, Jayanta Nath and Sekhar Bordoloi, all trained and experienced members of the association will take part as climbing members in the expedition.

The main expedition team will leave Guwahati on April 11 and will reach Taplejung via Siliguri and Kakarvita (Nepal) by vehicle. From there they will start trekking and will reach Kanchenjunga Base Camp (5200m) on April 20.
After establishment of another four camps in between base camp and summit and proper acclimatization, the team will launch its final attempt in between May 13 to May 18 for the summit. During the entire mission, a group of well-experienced Sherpa from Nepal will assist the team to reach the top of Mount Kanchenjunga.
After Flag-Off of the expedition, Hon’ble President had also clicked photographs with the team and other officials and left for her next programme venue by blessing the team for overall success.

[ MANASH BAROOAH, General Secretary, Assam Mountaineering Association, Mobile 9435106747 ]
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