Yashpal Negi's New Camp
Photo by Mousree Ganguli, taken two days before the flash floods
The place where The Mandakini Magpie Bird Camp at Kakragarh stood, the Mandakini River is flowing now.
Scarlet Finch-Photo by Yashpal Negi
Yaspal Negi, bird watcher and owner of the Camp has received no compensation from the Government. He is glad that he and his family escaped the Mandakini's fury. The family's revenues came from tourists-especially bird
watchers for whom Magpie Bird Camp was a beautiful homestay which came with food, warmth and a resident bird expert.
The male Himalayan monal in flight was captured by Vijay Cavale while trekking around Mandakini Magpie Bird Camp.
Negi is rebuilding his camp, thanks to help from many bird watcher friends. This time the camp is a two room shelter at Mukkumath; with a camping site on the banks of AkashKamini River, reports Santanil Ganguli. A keen bird
watcher himself, Santanil Ganguli (Calcutta) has been following the progress of the new Camp Negi is building. Santanil can be contacted at santanil.santanil@rediffmail.com
According to Santanil, Mukkumath's claim to fame is as the winter residence of the Deity at Tunganath temple. Tungnath is the highest temple in the world and is one of the five Panch Kedar temples located in the mountain range
of Tunganath in the Rudraprayag district in Uttarakhand. During the winter season, the temple is closed and the symbolic image of the deity and the temple priests are moved to Mukkumath, which is 19 km from there. Tungnath is at the top of the ridge dividing
the waters of the Mandakini River (raising from Kedarnath) from those of the Alaknanda River The Tungnath peak on this ridge is the source of three springs, which form the Akashkamini River.
Negi has built a two room set at Mukkumath, which is at a height of 7000ft. He has also provided a camping site on the banks of Akashkamni River, which originates from Tunganath.
View of the botanical station from Tunganth temple-Photo Susan Sharma
Birders, it is time to show that you really care about birds and bird guides like Yashpal Negi whose life has been devoted to the birds of Uttarakhand.
IndianWildlifeclub.com continues to follow up the progress made by Yashpal Negi whose camp, which housed bird watchers from all over the world for 13 years, vanished overnight in the Uttarakhand flash floods. Yashpal has
received no aid/relief from any of the Government Departments.
He still needs financial help to rebuild his camp.
For the benefit of those who wish to render monetary aid, we are again providing his account details:
Name: Yashpal Singh Negi
Bank: State Bank Of India
Branch: Bhiri
Saving Account No: 11442534733
NEFT/IFSC Code: SBIN0009834
Please remit your contributions directly, and intimate him accordingly.
His numbers are +91-9412909399 and +91-9720709499
Morning Sun at Kedarnath Peak-Photo Shashi Sharma
Those who contribute more than Rs 1000/- may send in their name, email id , date and amount of credit to susan_sharma@hotmail.com. IndianWildlifeClub .com will send a high resolution copy of ‘ Morning Sun at Kedarnath” to each
one of them.