Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured the State Tourism and Culture minister Satpal Maharaj that the Government of India will take required action in the case of the nuclear-powered device lost at the Nanda Devi mountain of Uttarakhand in the 1960s. Maharaj told media persons here that he had recently met the prime minister and expressed concern about the potential risk of radiation leak contaminating the Rishi Ganga river which originates at Nanda Devi and merges into the Ganga river.
Addressing the media at the Vidhan Sabha here on Monday, the State Tourism and Culture Minister said that as part of an agreement between India and the United States of America in 1965 the two nations had decided to cooperate for a clandestine operation to keep an eye on China's nuclear activity. On October 18, 1965, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and India’s Intelligence Bureau (IB) jointly undertook a clandestine operation to install a nuclear-powered sensing device on India’s second highest peak Nanda Devi in the Garhwal Himalayas. The team was carrying 56 kilogramme equipment including a generator fuelled by plutonium capsules for the device to be installed on the peak. However, a blizzard and severe cold conditions forced the team to abandon the mission leaving the device on the mountain. When the team returned to the mountain during May 1966, they found out that the whole device including the plutonium pack had been lost in an avalanche.
The device and plutonium have not been found since then. Referring to this incident, Maharaj said that he had met the prime minister in the national Capital on August 3 and raised the issue with him. He told Modi about the potential threat posed by the radioactive plutonium which has not been traced since 1965. In case of radiation leak from the plutonium contaminating the Rishi Ganga originating at Nanda Devi, there could be serious consequences as this river merges into theGanga which could also be contaminated as a result. Maharaj said that responding to this, the Prime Minister acknowledged that it was a serious issue. Modi also assured Maharaj that the Government would take necessary action in this regard. The State’s Tourism and Culture Minister informed media persons here that earlier as the Garhwal MP, he had also raised the issue of the plutonium lost at Nanda Devi peak in the parliament but the Government of the time did not accord attention to the issue.
