Swachh Bharat drive reaches Antarctica as Indian teams launch clean-up campaign
Kolkata, Oct 3 (IANS) The Swachh Bharat campaign has moved beyond India’s mainland to 12,000 km south, with the winter teams at the Maitri and Bharati stations in Antarctica undertaking a cleanliness and space-optimisation drive even in the extreme environment.
The present temperature in Antarctica is around -48 degrees Celsius.
“Under the Special Campaign for Disposal of Pending Matters (SCDPM) 6 (Special Campaign 6), the Indian winter team of the 45th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica (ISEA) undertook a cleanliness and space-optimisation drive at Maitri and Bharati stations,” the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) posted on X.
NCPOR added that, “even in Antarctica’s extreme environment, the commitment to cleaner, organised and better-maintained workplaces remains unwavering”.
The 45th ISEA was led by Scientific Officer Huidrom Nageshwar Singh from the India Meteorological Department.
The winter team at Bharati Station includes three Indian women, comprising two scientists and one medical doctor.
The winter crew took over after the summer component wrapped up major operations and projects, including cargo delivery, an international scientific collaboration with UAE scientists from Khalifa University, and the deployment of oceanographic floats.
Maitri was set up in 1988 on an ice-free, rocky area on the Schirmacher Oasis. The building was erected on steel stilts and has since stood the test of time.
Maitri also serves as a gateway to one of the largest mountain chains in central Dronning Maud Land, located south of Schirmacher. It is an inland station about 100 km from the shore at an elevation of about 50 metres above sea level.
It can support 25 persons in the main building during summers as well as winters, and about 40 in the summer facility comprising containerised living modules.
The station consists of one main building, a fuel farm, a fuel station, a lake water pump house, a summer camp and a number of smaller containerised modules.
The main building offers a regulated power supply, automated heating with hot and cold running water, incinerator toilets, cold storage, a PA system, living, dining and lounge facilities, and containerised laboratory space.
Communication is through dedicated satellite channels, providing connectivity for voice, video and data with the Indian mainland.
Bharati is located about 3,000 km east of Maitri, at the eastern Stornes Peninsula in Antarctica, approximately 35 metres above sea level.
The station, with a very small footprint, was commissioned on March 18, 2012, to facilitate year-round scientific research activity by the Indian Antarctic programme.
The station can support 47 personnel on a twin-sharing basis in the main building during summer as well as winter, with an additional 25 accommodated in emergency shelters and summer camps during summer, taking the total capacity to 72.
The station consists of one main building, a fuel farm, a fuel station, a seawater pump house, a summer camp and several smaller containerised modules.
The main building offers a regulated power supply, automated heating and air conditioning with hot and cold running water, flush toilets, a sauna, cold storage, a PA system, and aesthetically designed living, dining, lounge and laboratory spaces.
Communication is through dedicated satellite channels, providing connectivity for voice, video and data with the Indian mainland.
–IANS
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