HIGH AND LOWS

Guarding the Line of Actual Control not just takes a physical toll on jawans from the IndoTibetan Border Police, but more so a mental one

- RABI BANERJEE

Shimla is usually pleasant during summer. And so, this April, we drove to the farthest corner of north India where Himachal Pradesh ends and Tibet begins—the Line of Actual Control. “Are you mad?” asked a deputy commandant of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, based in Shimla. According to the weather update on his smartphone, the next few days would be anything but pleasant. He gave the go-ahead only after much persuasion. The ITBP was raised in 1962 after the war to guard the Indo-Tibetan border. In 2004, the entire stretch of the India-China border came under the ITBP.

The Line of Actual Control is around 100km from Chitkul, the last Indian village along the LAC. “No one is allowed beyond Chitkul, except security forces,” said the ITBP officer. His weather update soon came true. We encountered heavy winds about 50km from Chitkul. Fearing nature’s onslaught, even the chai stalls called it a day at 3pm. Our car driver was worried that it would rain rocks from the mountains. His fears came true in Mastrang, the border outpost which is a two-hour drive from Chitkul. The road ahead was blocked, and the Army was at work clearing the rocks.

The road was lined with Army transit camps. The ITBP camp at Mastrang is is the last outpost—14,000ft high; temperature—5°C. Around 150 jawans are stationed here. Fifty of them are packed into a room lined with cots. The jawans, wearing windcheaters, were seeking warmth inside sleeping bags.

Inder Kumar, a 55-year-old jawan, said they had no alternative but to slide into sleeping bags. "Our hands have turned stone cold," he said.