JOIN USBack from Antarctica, IAS officer has climate change lessons for Kodagu
Charulata Somal is the first IAS officer to have gone on an expedition to the Antarctica. The 2012-batch officer from Karnataka cadre has just returned from the icy continent.
After getting a first-hand account of the impact of climate change during her 15-day expedition, the Chief Executive Officer of Kodagu Zilla Panchayat wants to use her experience to combat climate change in the district. Speaking to Deccan Herald, the 28-year-old officer said her aim was to improve Kodagu.
Somal was among 140 people from 30 countries who went on the expedition. There were 17 Indians in the team, including Somal. This was the largest contingent from the country, she said.
The team included engineers, educationists, scholars, members of non-government organisations, film makers, photographers and artists.
“We were chosen from among 7,000 applicants across the globe. I am proud to be the first IAS officer to have taken an expedition to the Antarctica,” she said, her face beaming with joy. The expedition was held from March 13 to 26, 2016.
The participants were selected at an expedition organised by the 2041 Foundation of Robert Swan, the first man to have walked the North and South Poles.
He made a 900-mile journey to South Pole, the longest unassisted march in history, from 1984 to 1987. The foundation has been organising expeditions since 2003-04.
A BA graduate in Economics (Honours), Somal said the subject helped her understand how energy resources were being exploited and how they could be conserved.
“We started the expedition by a ship named Endeavour from Ushuaia in Argentina and touched the Antarctic West Peninsula. Every day we landed at a different place. We had ice classroom sessions, where participants are made to sit on the ice. Apart from travelling by ship, we trekked for three to four hours, walked for 30 km with 80-100 kg luggage in -10 degrees Celsius. At times, the temperature was as low as -35 degrees Celsius. We experienced chilly winds blowing at a speed of 45 miles per hour, snow, sunshine and even rain at freezing temperatures,” she recollected.
After returning from the expedition, Somal made a presentation at the Karnataka IAS Officers’ Association to her colleagues and senior officials. She is also preparing to submit a report to the state government about the way of life in the Antarctica and the knowledge she acquired there.
“As an official, we have certain limitations. But in my personal capacity, I am conducting awareness camps for schoolchildren on how to save the last wilderness on earth, the impact of climate change on natural resources and how Cauvery basin, which is the prime source of water for Bengaluru and other areas, can be saved,” she said.