Indian Antarctic Program

The Indian Antarctic Program is a multi-disciplinary, multi-

institutional program under the control of the National Centre for
Polar and Ocean Research, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government
of India. It was initiated in 1981 with the first Indian expedition to
Antarctica.[1] The program gained global acceptance with India's
signing of the Antarctic Treaty and subsequent construction of the
Dakshin Gangotri Antarctic research base in 1983,[1] superseded by
the Maitri base from 1989. The newest base commissioned in 2012 is
Bharati, constructed out of 134 shipping containers. Under the
program, atmospheric, biological, earth, chemical, and medical An aerial view of the Indian Station
sciences are studied by India, which has carried out 30 scientific Maitri on 25 February 2005
expeditions to the Antarctic as of 14 October 2010.

Contents
History
Organization
Global cooperation
Research
Research stations
Dakshin Gangotri Mohammed Ghous uzzaman, a
member of 7th Indian Antarctic
Maitri
Expedition Team at library, Dakshin
Bharati Gangotri. (26 January 1988)
India Post Office in Antarctica
Indian Antarctic expeditions
Notes
References
External links

History
Mohammed Ghous uzzaman (Left)
The origin of the Indian missions to the Antarctic are traced to the and M.Vyghreswara Rao (Right),
joint Indian Space Research Organisation – Hydrometeorological members of 7th Indian Antarctic
Centre of Russia agreements, which led to Indians, such as Dr. Expedition Team at Dakshin
Paramjit Singh Sehra, joining the 17th Soviet Antarctic expedition of Gangotri, Antactica. (26 January
1971–1973.[2] 1988)

India officially acceded to the Antarctic Treaty System on 1 August

1983. On 12 September 1983, the country became the fifteenth Consultative Member of the Antarctic
Treaty.[3]
Organization
The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research—a research and
development body functioning under the Ministry of Earth Sciences,
Government of India—controls the Indian Antarctic program.[4] The
NCPOR and the Department of Ocean Development select the
members for India's Antarctic expeditions.[2] After medical tests and
subsequent acclimatization training at the Himalayas, these selected
members are also trained in survival, environment ethics, firefighting Col. Jatinder Kumar Bajaj, a member
and operating in a group.[2] of one of the Indian expeditions to
Antarctica, standing at the South
One expedition costs up to ₹200 million (US$2.8 million).[2] Pole (17 January 1989)
Logistical support to the various activities of the Indian Antarctic
program is provided by the relevant branches of the Indian armed
forces.[4] The launching point of Indian expeditions has varied from Goa in India to Cape Town in South
Africa on 19th expedition during the time of NCAOR Founding Director Dr. P C Pandey in December
1999.[2] Over 70 institutes in India contributed to its Antarctic program as of 2007.[2]

Global cooperation
The Indian Antarctic program is bound by the rules of the Antarctic Treaty System, which India signed in
1983.[4] Pandey (2007) outlines the various international activities that India has undertaken as a part of its
Antarctic program:

On 12 September 1983, India achieved the status of Consultative Party, on 1 October became a
member of Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), and in 1986 became a member
of the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). In
1997 India also ratified the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty thus
reaffirming India's commitment to protecting the Antarctic environment. India hosted the eleventh
COMNAP/SCALOP (Standing Committee on Antarctic Logistics and Operations) meeting in
Goa in 1999, and the working group meeting on eco-system monitoring and management of
CCAMLR in August 1998 at Cochin. India occupied the CCAMLR chair beginning in
November 1998 for a period of 2 years.[2]

India also collaborates with the international community as a member of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission, Regional Committee of Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission in Coastal Indian Ocean
(IOCINDIO), International Seabed Authority (ISBA), and the State Parties of the United Nations Convention
on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS).[4][5][6]

Research
Antarctica holds scientific interest for global research projects due to a number of reasons: 'Origin of
continents, climate change, meteorology and pollution' are among the reasons cited by S.D. Gad (2008).[4]
Mrinalini G. Walawalkar (2005) holds that: 'ice–ocean interaction and the global processes; paleoenvironment
and paleoclimatic studies; geological evolution of earth and Gondwanaland reconstruction; Antarctic
ecosystems, biodiversity and environment physiology; solar terrestrial processes and their coupling; medical
physiology, adaptation techniques and human psychology;
environment impact assessment and monitoring; enabling low
temperature technology development; and studies on earthquakes' are
among the areas of study under the Indian Antarctic program.[6]

Close to 1,300 Indians had been to the continent as of 2001 as a part

of the country's Antarctic program.[7] Indian expeditions to the
Antarctic also study the fauna and the molecular biodiversity of the
region.[8][9] A total of 120 new microbes had been discovered as a
result of international scientific effort in the Antarctic by 2005.[6] 30
of these microbes had been discovered by Indian scientists.[6] India
has also published over 300 research publications based on Antarctic
studies as of 2007.[2] Krill distribution on a NASA
SeaWIFS image – the main
The 'ice cores' retrieved by drilling holes in Antarctic's vast ice-sheets concentrations are in the Scotia Sea
yield information 'on the palaeoclimate and eco-history of the earth as at the Antarctic Peninsula. India
records of wind-blown dust, volcanic ash or radioactivity are carries out krill exploration in the
preserved in the ice as it gets accumulated over time'.[4] The NCAOR Southern Ocean region of the
developed a polar research & development laboratory with a 'low- Antarctic.[4][7]
temperature laboratory complex at −20 °C for preservation and
analysis of ice core and snow samples' according to S.D. Gad
(2008).[4] The 'ice core' samples are held, processed, and analyzed in containment units designed by such
technology.[4] Storage cases made of poly propylene also ensure that the samples do not alter characteristics
and are preserved for analysis in the form that they were recovered.[4]

Research stations
In 1981 the Indian flag unfurled for the first time in Antarctica, marking the start of Southern Ocean
expeditions under the environmental protocol of the Antarctic Treaty (1959).

Dakshin Gangotri

The first permanent settlement was built in 1983 and named Dakshin Gangotri. In 1989 it was excavated and
is being used again as supply base and transit camp. Dakshin Gangotri was decommissioned in the year 1990
after half of it got buried under the ice. It is nothing more than a historical site now. In its times, it used to
double up as a place for multiple support systems, including the presence of an ice-melting plant, laboratories,
storage, accommodation, recreation facilities, a clinic and also a bank counter.

Maitri

The second permanent settlement, Maitri, was put up in 1989 on the Schirmacher Oasis and has been
conducting experiments in geology, geography and medicine. India built this station close to a freshwater lake
around Maitri known as Lake Priyadarshini. Maitri accomplished the mission of geomorphologic mapping of
Schirmacher Oasis.

Bharati
Located beside Larsmann Hill at 69°S, 76°E, Bharati is established in 2015. This newest research station for
oceanographic research will collect evidence of continental breakup to reveal the 120-million-year-old ancient
history of the Indian subcontinent. In news sources this station was variously spelled "Bharathi",[10]
"Bharti"[11] and "Bharati".[12]

India Post Office in Antarctica

It was established in the year 1984 during the third Indian expedition to Antarctica. It was located at Dakshin
Gangotri. This post office was indeed situated in a stunning location and it was more than just a post office.
An interesting fact about this place is that as many as 10,000 letters were posted and cancelled in this post
office in total in the first year of its establishment. Although the post office is no more there, it is a favourite
stopover for Indian tourists who visit the place in cruise ships.

The current Indian post office in Antarctica is situated at Maitri, where the country’s current research station is
also situated.

Indian Antarctic expeditions

Lieutenant Ram Charan, an Indian Navy meteorologist, was the first Indian to visit Antarctica when he
accompanied an Australian polar expedition in 1960. He died in a road accident in 1961.
 Leader Deputy Leader
Date Expedition Leader Deputy Leader (Summer (Summer
Team) Team)
First Indian
1981– C. P. Vohra, H. N.
Expedition to Dr. Sayed Zahoor Qasim
1982 Siddiquie
Antarctica
Second Indian
1982– Dr. C. R.
Expedition to V. K. Raina
1983 Sreedharan
Antarctica
Third Indian Lieutenant Colonel
1983–
Expedition to Dr Harsh K. Gupta Satya Swarup
1985
Antarctica Sharma
Fourth Indian
1984 Expedition to Dr. B.B. Bhattacharya Mr. D.K. Pande
Antarctica
Fifth Indian
Expedition to Mr M.K Kaul
Antarctica
Sixth Indian
Expedition to
Antarctica
Seventh Indian
1987- R. Sen
Expedition to Dr. G. S. Mittal
1989 Gupta
Antarctica
Eighth Indian
1988–
Expedition to Dr Amitava Sen Gupta Col S Jagannathan
1990
Antarctica
Ninth Indian
1989–
Expedition to Rasik Ravindra
1991
Antarctica
Tenth Indian
1990–
Expedition to A. K. Hanjura
1992
Antarctica
Eleventh Indian
1991–
Expedition to Dr. Mukherjee
1993
Antarctica
Twelfth Indian
Expedition to
Antarctica
Thirteenth Indian
Expedition to
Antarctica
Fourteenth Indian
Expedition to
Antarctica
Fifteenth Indian
Expedition to
Antarctica
Sixteenth Indian
Expedition to
Antarctica
Seventeenth Indian
Expedition to
 Antarctica
Eighteenth Indian
Expedition to
Antarctica
Nineteenth Indian
Expedition to
Antarctica
Twentieth Indian
Expedition to
Antarctica
Twenty first Indian
2002–
Expedition to Shri R. P. Lal
2003
Antarctica
Twenty Second Indian
Expedition to
Antarctica
Twenty third Indian
Expedition to
Antarctica
Twenty fourth Indian
Expedition to
Antarctica
Twenty fifth Indian
2005-
Expedition to
2007
Antarctica
Twenty sixth Indian
Expedition to
Antarctica
Twenty seventh
Indian Expedition to
Antarctica
Twenty eighth Indian
2008–
Expedition to Dr. P. Malhotra Ajay Dhar
2009
Antarctica
Twenty ninth Indian
2009–
Expedition to P. Elango Rajesh Asthana
2010
Antarctica
Thirtieth Indian
2010–
Expedition to K. Jeeva Rajesh Asthana
2011
Antarctica
Thirty first Indian Dr. Rupesh M. Das (Bharati)
2011–
Expedition to & Shree Uttam Chand Rajesh Asthana
2012
Antarctica (Maitri)
Thirty third Indian
2013– Abhijit Patil
Expedition to Mohd. Yunus Shah (Bharati)
2014 (Bharati)
Antarctica
Thirty fourth Indian
2014– Syed Shadab
Expedition to Kailash Bhindwar (Bharati)
2015 (Bharati)
Antarctica
Thirty seven Indian
2017– Dr. Shailesh Pednekar Bagati Sudarshan
Expedition to
2018 (Bharati) Patro (Bharati)
Antarctica
2018– 38th Indian Expedition K. Jeeva, Matri- P. Elengo,
 2020 to Antarctica Bharati

Notes
1. Walawalkar (2015), Gad (2008)
2. Anas (2007)
3. Department of Ocean Development, Government of India. Annual Report 1983-1984,
TECHNICAL PUBLICATION NO. 3., Printed at Dee Kay Printers Kirtinagar, New Delhi
4. Gad (2008)
5. Pursuit and Promotion of Science – The Indian Experience (2001), 351
6. Walawalkar (2005)
7. Pursuit and Promotion of Science – The Indian Experience (2001), 352
8. Pursuit and Promotion of Science – The Indian Experience (2001), 173
9. Pursuit and Promotion of Science – The Indian Experience (2001), 213
10. The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Cuddalore News : Third Antarctica research station by 2011 (https://w
eb.archive.org/web/20090411063558/http://www.hindu.com/2009/02/20/stories/200902205231
0500.htm)
11. "Bharti to be 3rd Indian station in Antarctica" (https://web.archive.org/web/20121025174421/htt
p://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-08-06/chennai/28199800_1_antarctica-new-statio
n-maitri), The Times of India, 6 August 2009
12. The Hindu News Update Service (http://www.hindu.com/holnus/008200902161911.htm)

References
Gad, S. D. (2008), "India in the Antarctic", Current Science, 95 (2): 151, Bangalore: Indian
Academy of Sciences.
Pandey, P.C. (2007) in "India: Antarctic Program", Encyclopedia of the Antarctic edited by Beau
Riffenburgh, pp. 529–530, Abingdon and New York: Taylor & Francis, ISBN 0-415-97024-5.
Pursuit and Promotion of Science – The Indian Experience (2001), New Delhi: Indian National
Science Academy.
Walawalkar, M. G. (2005), "Antarctica and Arctic: India's contribution", Current Science, 685,
Bangalore: Indian Academy of Science.
"Scientific Report of First Indian Expedition to Antarctica" (http://14.139.119.23:8080/dspace/bit
stream/123456789/126/3/INTRODUCTION.pdf) (PDF). Department of Ocean Development,
Government of India. 2016.

External links
National Centre for Antarctic & Ocean Research (NCAOR) (http://www.ncaor.gov.in/), Ministry
of Earth Sciences, Government of India.

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