Three decades after it set up base in Antarctica, India will have a home on the other extreme of the globe when a permanent research station is inaugurated in the Arctic later this month.

This research station is being set up tantalisingly close to the North Pole, at Ny-Alesund, on the west coast of Spitsbergen, the largest island in the Svalbard archipelago of Norway. Just 1,200 km from the North Pole, Ny-Alesund is the northernmost permanent human settlement on the globe, comprising scientists carrying out research in one of the most pristine environments on earth.

The research base, which will be inaugurated by Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal during an international symposium being organised in Ny-Alesund from June 30 to July 2, is being set up by the Goa-based National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCOAR).

India’s research team will carry out a number of experiments in the region, most notably on issues related to climate change.

“This is a wonderful beginning in the Arctic. The polar regions are ideal for a number of experiments. Since we already have a couple of permanent stations in Antarctica, a research base in the Arctic will give our scientists a wealth of data to study issues like global warming and climate change,” Sibal told The Indian Express.

The setting up of the permanent base follows two expeditions by Indian scientists to Ny-Alesund in the last one year. India’s Arctic programme started in August last year with the flagging off of the first-ever scientific expedition to the region. That team, comprising four scientists and led by NCAOR Director Rasik Ravindra, carried out studies in the region for four weeks. Another team of seven scientists led by Prof A K Gwal of Barkatullah University, Bhopal, spent four weeks in Ny-Alesund in March this year.

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