Former ITBP commandant releases book on Everest

CHANDIGARH: Mohinder Singh, commandant (retd), Indo-Tibetan Border Police, released his Punjabi book, "Everest 1996", on Wednesday. This is his fourth book on his expeditions and first-ever on Everest in Punjabi.
Singh said, "I felt very honoured when I was chosen the leader of ITBP's first ever expedition to Mt Everest through North-Col Tibet (China) route in 1996. It is the most formidable and difficult route out the 13 for highest peak in the world."
"This is my day-to-day account of expedition on Everest, North Col, 1996.I was about 53½ at that time. It took us 78 days to complete the task because of the hardships and casualties. Generally, if a member dies, the mission is called off. That was about to happen to us. Even I sent back most of the members. Then I decided out of anticipation that we will continue our journey and reorganized my team of five members. It was not an easy decision after the tragic death of three of our members."
Another interesting fact about this expedition was that they completed it under three different prime ministers. "We were flagged off by Narasimha Rao on March 22, 1996. When we decided to reach the top, week after the death of their members, we talked to Atal Bihari Vajpayee. And by the time we came back, Deve Gowda was leading the country," Singh said.