The Nanda Devi National Park or Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, established in 1982 is a

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

situated around the peak of

Nanda Devi Nanda Devi is the second-highest mountain in India, after Kangchenjunga, and the highest located entirely within the country. (Kangchenjunga is on the border of India and Nepal.) Nanda Devi is the 23rd-highest peak in the world and ranked 74t ...

(7816 m) in Chamoli Garhwal district of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

, in northern

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The entire park lies at an elevation of more than above mean sea level. The national park was inscribed a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

in 1988. It was later expanded and renamed as

Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks The Nanda Devi National Park and Valley of Flowers National Parks is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Uttarakhand, India. It possesses of two core areas about 20 km apart, made up by the Nanda Devi National Park and the Valley of Flowers Nati ...

in 2005. Within the park lies the ''Nanda Devi Sanctuary'', a glacial basin surrounded by a ring of peaks between and high, and drained by the Rishi Ganga through the Rishi Ganga Gorge, a steep, almost impassable, defile. The national park is embedded in the ''Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve'', which, in turn, is encompassed in the World Conservation Monitoring Centre
buffer zone around the ''Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks'' UNESCO site. The best time to visit Nanda Devi National Park is from May to October.

History

The first recorded attempt to explore the sanctuary was in 1883 by W. W. Graham, who could proceed only up to Rishi Ganga. Other attempts by explorers in 1870, (T. G. Longstaff) 1926, 1927 and 1932 (Hugh Ruttledge) did not fetch fruitful results. Eric Shipton and H. W. Tilman entered the inner sanctuary through Rishi Ganga in 1934, thus opening the extensive exploration in the sanctuary. In 1939, the area was declared as a game sanctuary.

2021 Glacial Outburst Flood

At approximately 10:45 a.m. IST on 7 February 2021, a flooding disaster occurred all along the Rishiganga river and its valley following a landslide, avalanche or

glacial lake outburst flood A glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) is a type of outburst flood caused by the failure of a dam containing a glacial lake. An event similar to a GLOF, where a body of water contained by a glacier melts or overflows the glacier, is called a j� ...

of the Nanda Devi glacier.

Layout of the Nanda Devi Sanctuary

The Nanda Devi Sanctuary within the National Park can be divided into two parts, Inner and Outer. Together, they are surrounded by the main sanctuary wall, which forms a roughly square outline, with high, continuous ridges on the north, east and south sides. On the west side, less high but still imposing ridges drop from the north and south toward the Rishi Ganga Gorge, which drains the sanctuary towards the west.''Garhwal-Himalaya-Ost'', 1:150,000 scale topographic map, prepared in 1992 by Ernst Huber for the

Swiss Foundation for Alpine Research Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

, based on maps of the

Survey of India The Survey of India is India's central engineering agency in charge of mapping and surveying.Dakshini Nanda Devi Glaciers respectively. The first recorded entry of the British into the Inner Sanctuary was by

Eric Shipton Eric Earle Shipton, CBE (1 August 1907 – 28 March 1977), was an English Himalayan mountaineer. Early years Shipton was born in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1907 where his father, a tea planter, died before he was three years old. When he was e ...

and H. W. Tilman in 1934, via the Rishi Gorge.H. W. Tilman, ''The Ascent of Nanda Devi'', Cambridge University Press, 1937. Reprinted in ''The Seven Mountain-Travel Books'', The Mountaineers, Seattle, 2003, . The Outer Sanctuary occupies the western third of the total sanctuary, and is separated from the Inner Sanctuary by high ridges, through which flows the Rishi Ganga. It is split in two by the Rishi Ganga; on the north side lies the Ramani Glacier, flowing down from the slopes of Dunagiri and

Changabang Changabang is a mountain in the Garhwal Division, Garhwal Himalayas of Uttarakhand, India. It is part of a group of peaks that form the northeast wall of the Nanda Devi Sanctuary. It is a particularly steep and rocky peak, and all routes on it ...

, and on the south lies the Trisul Glacier, flowing from the peak of the same name. This portion of the sanctuary is accessible to the outside (though requiring the crossing of a pass). The first serious climbing expedition to pass through the Outer Sanctuary was that of T. G. Longstaff, who climbed Trisul I in 1907 via the eponymous glacier.

Fauna

Common larger mammals are Himalayan musk deer, mainland serow and

Himalayan tahr The Himalayan tahr (''Hemitragus jemlahicus'') is a large even-toed ungulate native to the Himalayas in southern Tibet, northern India, western Bhutan and Nepal. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, as the population is declini ...

. Himalayan goral are not found within, but in the vicinity of the park. Carnivores are represented by

snow leopard The snow leopard (''Panthera uncia'') is a species of large cat in the genus ''Panthera'' of the family Felidae. The species is native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because ...

Himalayan black bear The Himalayan black bear (''Ursus thibetanus laniger'') is a subspecies of the Asian black bear. It is distinguished from '' U. t. thibetanus'' by its longer, thicker fur and smaller, whiter chest mark. The species is considered an ecological ind ...

and perhaps also

Himalayan brown bear The Himalayan brown bear (''Ursus arctos isabellinus''), also known as the Himalayan red bear or isabelline bear, is a subspecies of the brown bear occurring in the western Himalayas. It is the largest mammal in the region, males reaching up to ...

Langurs The Colobinae or leaf-eating monkeys are a family (biology), subfamily of the Old World monkey family that includes 61 species in 11 genus, genera, including the black-and-white colobus, the large-nosed proboscis monkey, and the gray langurs. So ...

are found within the park, whereas

rhesus macaque The rhesus macaque (''Macaca mulatta''), colloquially rhesus monkey, is a species of Old World monkey. There are between six and nine recognised subspecies split between two groups, the Chinese-derived and the Indian-derived. Generally brown or g ...

are known to occur in the neighboring areas of the park. In a scientific expedition in 1993, a total of 114 bird species was recognized.

Flora

Nanda Devi National Park is home to a wide variety of flora. Some 312 floral species that include 17 rare species have been found here.

Fir Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...

and

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' ( ) of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere as far south ...

are the main flora. Vegetation is scarce In the inner sanctuary due to the dryness of the conditions. One will not find vegetation near Nanda Devi Glacier. Ramani, alpine, prone mosses and lichens are other notable floral species found in Nanda Devi National Park.

Named peaks of the park and environs

Within the sanctuary

Apart from Nanda Devi, the following peaks lie on *

: * Devistan I: * Devistan II: * Rishi Kot:

On the sanctuary wall

These peaks are listed in clockwise order, starting from just north of the Rishi Gorge. Some of them are relatively minor summits and have small

topographic prominence In topography, prominence or relative height (also referred to as autonomous height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contour line encircling ...

, while others are independent peaks. Trisul 1 and2

* Hanuman: * Dunagiri: *

: * Kalanka: * Rishi Pahar: * Mangraon: * Deo Damla: * Bamchu: * Sakram: * Lhatu Dhura: * Sunanda Devi: * Nanda Khat: * Panwali Dwar: * Maiktoli: * Devtoli: * Mrigthuni: * Trisul I, II, III: , , *

Nanda Ghunti Nanda Ghunti is a {{convert, 6309, m, ft, adj=mid, -high mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ ...

: 6309 m (20,699 ft) * Bethartoli: Panorama of Garhwal Peaks as seen from Brahmatal trek

Just outside the wall

The following are the most notable peaks which are adjacent to the wall; they are all connected to the wall by high passes. They lie just outside the boundaries of the park. *

Hardeol Hardeol or 'Temple of God' is one of the major peaks of the Kumaon division, Kumaon Himalaya. It is the highest peak on the northern side of the ring of peaks guarding the Nanda Devi Sanctuary, and lies at the northeast corner of this ring. It ...

: (northeast corner) *

Trishuli Tirsuli is a Himalayan mountain peak in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, India. It is part of the complex of mountains, including Tirsuli West, Hardeol, Dunagiri (mountain), Dunagiri, Changabang, and Kalanka, which make up the northeast wa ...

: (just beyond Hardeol) *

Nanda Kot Nanda Kot ( Kumaoni-नन्दा कोट) is a mountain peak of the Himalaya range located in the Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand state in India. It lies in the Kumaon Himalaya, just outside the ring of peaks enclosing the Nanda Devi ...

: (southeast corner) *

: (southwest corner)

Nuclear-powered spying device on Nanda Devi

During the cold war era when Chinese carried out their first nuclear test in 1964 and followed it up with missile testing, the US and India actively collaborated to spy on China's nuclear capabilities. Before the advent of spy satellites much of the clandestine intelligence gathering relied on ground based sensors. The Chinese missile testing facility was north of the Himalayan range, which was a big hurdle in detecting missile telemetry signals. CIA was looking for a Himalayan peak high enough to secure a direct line of sight to the Chinese missile testing zone. Together with the Intelligence Bureau of India, they planned a secret mission to install a nuclear powered listening device on top of the peak of Nanda Devi. A joint team of CIA hired US mountaineers together with Indian contingent from the defense forces were detailed to carry out the secret mission. By that time the mountaineering season was concluding and the mission met with adverse climatic conditions. They left behind the plutonium fueled device with the intention of renewing their attempt during the next year's climbing season. The follow-up Indian expedition during the next season found the device missing from where it was anchored. It probably fell down due to rock fall and slid towards the glaciers carrying its plutonium with it. All the follow-up secret expeditions launched to retrieve the device met with failure. In 2018 it was reported that the Tourism Minister of Uttarakhand State Mr. Satpal Maharaj met the Prime Minister of India to express his apprehensions that the atomic device that had gone missing over 50 years ago might be polluting waters of the

Ganges The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...

References

External links

Biodiversity Heritage Library
{{Authority control National parks in Uttarakhand Protected areas established in 1982 World Heritage Sites in India 1982 establishments in Uttar Pradesh