DISTRIBUTION OF LIFE SAVING AIDS TO THE TREKKERS
The Khangchendzonga Conservation Committee (KCC) delivered life-saving oxygen
cylinders and LPG heaters to high-altitude personnel deployed along the Yuksam-Dzongri
walking trail under Khangchendzonga National Park. These equipments were distributed
during the workshop, hosted on raising awareness of a single health approach to manage
Zoonotic infections. KCC Yuksam provided a total of 7 sets of LPG set connections for
Cooking purposes and 7 sets of LPG Heaters to the caretakers of the huts and 4 oxygen
cylinders at various places in Bakhim, Tshoka, Dzongri, Thangsing and HMI.
The purpose of providing the oxygen cylinders and LPG heaters was to avert situations,
which might lead to casualties due to lack emergency oxygen crisis. However, the utilization
of emergency helicopter service might not be suitable, as the authorities need to obtain
special permission. Also the temperature drops dramatically during the winter, and that in
1998, the group was able to prohibit trekkers from using firewood along the Yuksam Dzongri
trail. The protectors of the trail, the keepers of the trekker’s hut along Yuksam-Dzongri,
however, were unable to comply with the restriction because they had no alternative source
of heat or food throughout the year. As the number of tourists grows, so does the demand on
the land, and a great number of Rhododendron trees are felled-down to offer services at the
Trekkers hut and these aids prove to be the perfect alternatives as well as serve as the
conservation step of biodiversity in KNP.
Khangchendzonga National Park was designated as a world-recognized heritage site under
the Mixed Category by UNESCO in July 2016. The national park was formed in 1977 and
dubbed as the guardian deity – Mt. Khangchendzonga or Mt. Kanchenjunga, and it spans
1784 square kilometres, with elevations ranging from 1,829 metres (6,001 feet) to over 8,550
metres. The national park has a diverse landscape, flora and fauna. It is noted for its worldfamous
Yuksam-Dzongri trip, in addition to its diverse scenery, vegetation, and fauna.
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The trekking trail which is above 3000 meters is filled with various types of Rhododendrons,
a dominant species in that elevation. These Rhododendrons are vital for maintaining the
ecology, for bird breeding, and for the preservation of medicinal plants, among other things.
It has been functioning as fuel-wood at the trekker’s cabin along the trail, producing a
disturbance in the park’s ecosystem. The number of trekkers that travel the trail each year
grows, resulting in the destruction of the Rhododendrons that offer warmth and nourishment
to trail hikers. Conservation was the common purpose of a group of like-minded persons who
created an organization in Yuksam in 1996.
A Zero Waste mechanism has been developed by KCC and is in practice inside the national
park making it the only ZERO WASTE TREKKING TRAIL in Sikkim. The tourism
stakeholders of Khangchendzonga National Park have been trained by the organization in
adopting the Zero Waste practice, while trekking. The training includes segregation of waste,
product making from the waste generated from inside KNP etc. Besides, such mechanism
has been implemented in maintaining the data of waste collected from inside the park. In the
year 2005, KCC started functioning as a Visitors Information Centre (VIC) informing the
trekkers about national parks, rules and regulations that are to be followed inside the park,
the religious beliefs and local bylaws that one has to follow inside the park.
