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 Last week I mentioned about my visit to Nathula Pass which I visited while I had gone for election duty to Sikkim. At the very spot where a barbed wire divided India from China to my great joy I met the personnel of 'Madras Engineers'. In fact they were eagerly waiting for me. They had already read in the newspaper that one of the election observers was arriving from Tamil Nadu and would be visiting the pass and were expecting me since then. They were delighted to see me and gathered around me to speak in Tamil. There are 30 persons belonging to the 'Madras Engineers' at Nathulla. Madras Engineers are one of the oldest and the best 'Engineering Corps' in India. They are involved in construction activity at Nathula. On that day of my visit they were clearing some ground near the newly built conference hall. This conference hall is their greatest achievement and is the pride of the place. It is posh and beautiful and is made of local stone and wood.
According to Raju Mohan the Junior Commanding
Officer of the Madras Engineers they have created some sort of
world record by constructing the conference hall at the highest
place in the world. What is noteworthy is that they built it in
just six months. Raju got it opened for me and showed me around.
It was a well designed hall with a beautiful wooden roof, a lovely
conference table and velvet drapes. The army and regimental flags
stood at the head of the table. This hall has been constructed for
holding the meetings between the Indian and the Chinese Officers.
A small conference hall, not as grand as this, exists on the
Chinese side also. The first conference between the army officers
of the two nations had taken had just taken place on the 15th of
September 1999. Another was likely to take place on the 25th of
September 1999 to discuss a proposal to install a telephone booth
which could be operated both by a Chinese and an Indian telephone
operator for the benefit of the tourists visiting the Nathula
Pass.
I was really full of admiration for the Madras
Engineers who are away from home in a very cold climate compared
to that of Tamil Nadu and would continue to work there through the
winter when the entire area will be under the snow for over six
months in a year. They are brave and optimistic in spite of the
fact that they are not able to get their type of food like Sambar,
rasam, rice, etc. They are right now staying with the Battalion
called 21 Punjab were they mostly have to live on chappatti and
dal. Once in a while they cook for themselves and manage to eat
some thing more homely. I also felt that they needed more woollens,
long coats and jackets, boots, blankets, etc., to tide over the
cold working conditions. The living conditions of the soldiers at
the Nathula Pass has also to improve. Most of our soldiers are
living in tin sheds and make shift accommodation. On the Chinese
side one feels soldiers have better accommodation and better
clothing. All the pathways on the Chinese side are in the shape of
underground tunnels which protect them from the cold and snow, at
the same time their movements also remain unseen by the Indian
side. On our side also we need to undertake this type of
improvements to provide a better deal to the soldiers who live and
work in extreme weather conditions. The experience of Kargil
should give us some insight to give top priority to our army
personnel.
Raju's family lives in Coimbatore where his
wife works as a school teacher. His house is at the foot hills of
Mardhamalai temple He has not been home for a long time. I have
promised Raju that I will try to look her up when I visit
Coimbatore the next time.
(to be continued)
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