Quantcast
Channel: Navrang India
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 3711

Sir George Everest' s home near Mussoourie to become a Cartography Museum - the work has begun

$
0
0

 

Sir George Everest's house, Mussoorie, India. livemint.com

Mussoorie, Uttrakhand, India George Everest's house.probashionline.com

In the 4th week of September the state government of Uttrakhand announced the Mussoorie house of Sir George Everest after whom the highest peak in the world in the Himalayas is named, will be converted into  a cartography museum at a cost of Rs Rs 24 crore. In this regard  Dilip Jawalkar, secretary for tourism in Uttarakhand, said, ''The construction of a cartographic museum is proposed at George Everest and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed soon with the Survey of India in this regard. Under a Rs 24 crore project, the George Everest’s house is being renovated as a tourist spot where eco-friendly log huts, mobile toilets, food vans, open theatre, approach road and a heritage track is being constructed for tourists.” The down stream benefits are the local people will get more employment opportunities and this heritage site will be converted into a popular  tourist destination with additional facilities. The idea of starting a Cerography Museum in 2015 at Everest's residence did not materialize for various reasons. It did not move farther, except some major repair work was carried out in the house that had fallen on bad time and disrepair. I am glad  project has been taken up in earnest  recently and is moving in the right direction.  

The former  Surveyor General of India George Everest was the one who was instrumental in initiating the trigonometric survey of India to understand the terrain and the height of the peaks in the mountains. The survey covered the  southern most tip of the Peninsular India s well.  

Yet another feature is  the Dehradun-Mussoorie ropeway taken up by the Department of Tourism and the preparation for the project was already completed.  An agreement was already made with a private firm  regarding this  proposed project  and the work would start upon environmental clearance from the agency concerned.  . 

The Dehradun-Mussoorie ropeway, covering a distance of about 30 km between Rajpur Road to Mussoorie Taxi Stand, is a boon to the visiting tourists and the tourism department's ambitious plan is welcomed by the locals here. The rope way will cover the entire stretch in just 15 minutes  and will have a carrying capacity of .1,000 people on a one-way trip. The added advantage to the visitors is they can enjoy uninterrupted vista of  fine misty hills and greenery all around while going up and coming down the hill..  Yet another positive point is besides saving travel time,  tourists can avoid  the problems of air pollution, carbon emission and traffic jam on the Dehradun-Mussoorie route,

Sir George Everest 1790 -1866)whittlespublishing.com

Above image: Surveying of the Indian subcontinent began in 1806 under Col Lambert during the early colonial rule in India under the East India company.  The purpose of this survey was to delineate the boundary of the Indian subcontinent and the exact height of the various peaks.

heritagehoodblog.

 George Everest who joined  the survey in 1818.  became the Surveyor General of India in 1830. He continued in this capacity  until 1843. Everest, being  creative, wanted to survey the terrain in a precise way using math and modern technology. He calculated the mathematical spheroids on the  Great Meridian Arc of India from Kayakumari to the Himalayas in the north . The Great  Trigonometric Survey was quite consuming  work and it took a while to complete the work. In 1852 Radhanath Sikdar, a mathematician with the survey at last found out  the highest point in the world which was accepted and finally named after George Everest in 1856; but he  never wanted the peak to be named after him. 

Mesmerized by the nice ambiance, Sir George Everest had his residence cum Observatory and mini lab built  at Hathipaon,  near Mussoourie, a popular hill station  and lived there for 10 years from  1833-1843. He named his bungalow   Logarithm Lodge.  Hathipaon, an isolated place at a height of 7089 feet from MSL is  away from  Mussoorie and 8 km from Uttrakhand hill station. Everest's house is located on a ridge in the sub Himalayan mountain with the Shivalik mountains in the south and the vast Gangetic plain at the base. He also purchased an estate called  the Park Estate which later changed many hands. Presently, the state government manages  the house which is a declared heritage site. George Everest is often referred to as the “Father of Indian Geodesy.” 

https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/l4wqUlOgceXLlzv3XW4AhJ/The-measure-of-a-mountain.html

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/george-everest-s-house-in-mussoorie-to-become-cartography-museum/story.


 



Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 3711

Trending Articles