An officer in the thick of Mt Harriet
An officer in the thick of Mt Harriet
Debkumar
Bhadra | Musings of an Islander | South Andaman
Established in 1969, Mount Harriet National Park (MHNP) covering an area of 4.62 sq km, is
located in South Andaman Islands. Named after Harriet Tytler, the second wife
of Col. Robert Christopher Tytler, Superintendent of the Convict Settlement at
Port Blair (April 1862 to February 1864), the national park comprise of five principal peaks namely Mt Koyob (459m), Mt Hext
(425m), Mt Harriet (422m), Mt Goodridge (376m) and Mt Carpenter (346m). The
scenic beauty; dense forests, rare birds, colourful butterflies, moths and a
myriad of other creatures makes this place a natural wonder.
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| Light House at North Bay featured at the reverse side of twenty rupee note |
Adding
to the wow factor, the summit at Mt Harriet, offers panoramic view of Andaman
Sea, the Light House at North Bay that features on the reverse of twenty rupee
note, Ross Island, Neil Island, Sir Huge Rose Island, Havelock Island and parts
of rural South Andaman. Those willing to explore further are welcomed
to a 2.5 km trek to Kala Pathar. Since we were on a mission to locate the inscription
on Kala Pathar, we immediately set out on the natural trek.
While
about 50 m away from Kala Pathar, something down the track caught Ollie's attention and the very next moment he was seen descending in that direction. I carefully
followed his path and after a drop of about 20 m from the trekking route, landed
next to a huge rock. While I was still struggling to get a foot hold, Ollie
already had a sparkle in his eyes. After glancing the rock from every angle
possible and a brief recce of the surroundings, he began to do what he is good at – climb the
rock.
With his left hand fingers positioned on the edge of a sharp
crevice on the rock and those on the right tucked to a contour formed by
weathering, Ollie was just about to start the ascend when a piercing voice
broke his grip. “Come here” commanded someone from the trekking route. I
thought it might be a wandering soul from colonial era asserting supremacy over
his subordinates. Looking up, I found it was real and there were three of them
staring at us. One in uniform was probably the Range Officer. “Do you have
permit” thundered the second one in plainclothes. I said yes. “Check their
permit” he said. The third person also in plainclothes, was standing at a
distance with a bare machete in his hand, probably a mazdoor.
Handing
over the permit, I said there is no point in shouting, we have valid permits.
“You cannot question, my voice is like that. I am an officer” pat came the
reply from him.
Looking at the permit, he
asked, who has signed it? “Mazd…” said the Range Officer. “Cancel the Permit”
came the order. Ollie asked Why? “He is the authorized person” (to sign)
said the so called officer pointing towards the Range Officer who has been
tailing him and went on to issue another verbal order to the Range Officer which
I consider not fit to put in here. He then desired we surrender our permit. Quoting
“we might encounter another one of his kind” I had to reject his demand and thus
put an end to the conversation. Thereafter both the groups proceeded in
opposite directions along the trek.
After a short walk, we
arrived at the Kala Pathar site. Ollie wanted to search the base region of the
rock since he suspected the portion on which “MAUD” was inscribed might have snapped and rolled down the valley due to weathering action. He went ahead with the quest,
while I chose to occupy the bench pondering over the unpleasant turn of events.
I took out the permit to find out if we had inadvertently broken any condition that
angered the officer so much that he behaved in a manner which is
at variance to his age, status and the person he said he is.
Careful reading of the
permit made me roll on the floor laughing. I found that among other things, one
cannot indulge in collection of dead or alive corals, destruction of their
habitat in Mt Harriet. As if this was not enough, it is also mentioned that
Fishing, Scuba diving and Spear Fishing is prohibited.
Probably the officer thought
we were fishing in the jungle or collecting corals or destructing their habitat
that he had to shout at us at such an early hour on the Sunday. I asked Ollie
if he had brought his fishing gear “Nope” he said instantly and we retraced our
path leaving the Kala Pathar behind.
PS : I urge visitors not to drop the permit in the vehicle; carry
it along while at Mt Harriet. Who knows, an officer might be on the prowl.
Beware!
This post was carried in the Port Blair edition of Echo of India dated Feb 20, 2017
This post was carried in the Port Blair edition of Echo of India dated Feb 20, 2017
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