DEHRADUN: In a recent meeting with PM Narendra Modi in New Delhi, Uttarakhand tourism minister Satpal Maharaj referred to the failed 1965 Nanda Devi expedition and expressed his apprehensions that an atomic device that had gone missing over 50 years ago may be polluting waters of the Ganga .

In October 1965, America’s Central Intelligence Agency and India’s Intelligence Bureau had undertaken a clandestine mission to install a nuclear-powered spying device on the summit of Nanda Devi peak to keep a tab on the Chinese. However, the team met with a blizzard and had to retreat leaving behind a nuclear-fuelled generator and plutonium capsules with the intention of renewing its attempt at a later date. However, when they returned a few months later, all the equipment, including the stock of plutonium, was gone. It is believed that plutonium capsules have a longevity of over a hundred years and could still be buried somewhere in the snow.

Terming the issue “one of a grave and pressing nature”, Maharaj told the PM that there may be a possibility of radiation from the still-active plutonium capsules polluting the snow trickling down from the Nanda Devi range into the Ganga. “I requested the PM to have the matter studied on a priority basis and take action,” he said.

At a presser in Dehradun on Monday, Maharaj claimed he had raised the issue in the past, too, but failed to get the desired results. “There is a strong possibility of a radiation leak and a thorough probe will ascertain whether the river is safe,” he said.

