Antarctica - Bharati Station, home away from home

It indeed was an immense pleasure to meet old friends who were already there for more than a year. The happiness on their faces was something to experience than describe…

The moment we entered the station there was an announcement in the PA system welcoming us. Bharati station has a different culture and it was visible everywhere. Right from our welcome with drum beats till this announcement, everything was different. Maitri was like visiting very close people in a small place, very affectionate and intimate whereas Bharati was more urban and modern. Both were good like two sides of the same coin as people at both these places were from the same background. The plush buildings with modern facilities cannot change the emotions and feelings.

We were enjoying all these experiences with every passing moment at our home away from home, 3 months for me and over 14 months for my team.

It was already evening and the dinner was ready. The parathas we ate in our Basler flight were digested long back creating a craving for another delicious meal. We all went to the dining hall and savored the taste of freshly cooked hot food.

Bharati is the newest Indian station on this continent. It got commissioned in 2012. Till very recently this was considered to be the most advanced research station in Antarctica.

It is very well designed with modern interiors using high tech automation systems to provide good ambience as well as a healthy environment to the people inside and protecting them from harsh Antarctic weather. During winter time there are strong blizzards, very low temperatures, and insanely high wind speed. The station needs to withstand and sustain such conditions. The structure is container-based built by a German company. It took two summer seasons to complete the construction activity and was formally handed over to the Government of India in 2012.

In all these articles there is one question which is unanswered. The question is why am I here? What is my team here for and what do we do? Well…the answers are simple.

We have a company in Pune, India called Techbean Systems Pvt. Ltd and our job is to operate and maintain all the life support systems at this station. This being a high tech station, it also needs similar people to run various systems. In short, this station is under our maintenance contract. We have our engineers deputed here all the time to ensure that the life of people here is safe and comfortable. The team that came with me will take over the station maintenance from the old team who was here for the past 14 months. My job is to ensure that the handover is smooth and also the new team is fully equipped to take charge of the station for the coming winter and the following summer.

We are the first and only Indian company doing this type of job in Antarctica.

Techbean team

After finishing dinner we decided to take a round of the station. This station is on stilts with a three-storied structure building. The first floor houses the generators and heating, water treatment plants and labs. The second floor has living modules, kitchen, dining, lounge, communication room, leader’s office, entertainment room, library etc, while the third floor has air handling units to get the fresh air from outside, heat it and distribute across all areas of the station. Hence, the major movement of people happens on the second floor.

  

The lounge is very spacious and a central place for all the activities happening in the station. Let there be a party, any celebration, general meeting or some technical lecture. All of it happens in the lounge. 

The Lounge

  

It also has a spectacular view of the sea and icebergs which makes it very beautiful and soothing. If you are lucky you could also sight penguins, seals or whales in the sea from here.

View from The Lounge

On the other side of the station, there is a dining hall which is of the same size as the lounge and is a favorite place for foodies. It has a kitchen connected to it and is open to all. There is a Chef, but one can go and cook whatever is desired with available resources. When I visited this place I saw a bunch of guys making jalebis which I could taste…

Dining hall

The entertainment room has a home theater and indoor games like carom and table tennis. This becomes essential for expedition members during winters when it is 24 hrs night with very low temperatures and is almost impossible to venture into the outside world.

Next day, after the morning meeting session and breakfast I thought of having a short tour of areas around the station. With having spectacular sea view on one side and the hills on the other, the station area could easily be featuring into one of the most beautiful places across Antarctica.

The area in which Bharati station is based is called as Larsemann Hills. This is majorly a non-icy area with a series of hills surrounding small islands. This is an Antarctic Specially Managed Area(ASMA) with certain restrictions to arrest any environmental impact posed to Antarctica by various activities by humans.

Due to its ASMA status, it is not allowed to use water of these lakes for human consumption. So Bharati station takes water from the sea, converts it into potable water with RO and uses for consumption. It is pumped from 25 meters below the sea surface and brought to the station with the heated pipeline.

After coming out in the open, it was like a hill station on the sea coast. These hills make it look very scenic. I also saw few lakes mostly in between those hills. One lake is just adjacent to the station. The hills surrounding Bharati station were snow covered and looked breathtakingly beautiful.

Antarctica does not have any greenery. You cannot imagine having a lush green forest or grassland here. For that matter, not even a tree or a bush. The beauty of this place is from the countless combinations of white, blue and brown and one has to be here to see and appreciate these combinations and salute the vast imposing nature.

  

There are over 100 lakes in the Larsemann Hills area. They are named as L1, L2 and so on. Lake L7 is the largest and most beautiful. It is having the largest hill on its side, the top of which is known as Bharati top. I was lucky to go to the top and the view you get from here was simply mind-blowing. You see the blue/white ocean on its sides, see L7 at its base and a spectacular sight of Bharati station. L7 is almost melted and is looking serene from the top.

 Bharati top

View from Bharati top

These lakes are like laboratories for the scientists who visit Antarctica for research in various subjects and are full of samples like algae and other micro-organisms for them.

Just like the Maitri station, there were huts and containers mounted at various places around the station. These huts are for mounting instruments for monitoring various atmospheric parameters on a regular basis. Containers are also used for the same purpose. There is one hut called IIG(Indian Institute of Geomagnetism) hut and the other one is IMD(Indian Institute of Meteorology) hut. The station leader Mr. Elango who eventually became my good friend is from IIG, took me to their hut and explained to me the working of various instruments and their purpose.

Scientific huts and container

I also saw three domes built around the station. These domes are the ISRO/NRSC(National Remote Sensing Center) domes used for tracking and data collection from polar orbiting satellites.

ISRO Domes

Just behind one of those domes is an icy hillock completely covered with huge snow. When asked I was told that it is the Bharati sliding point. You can actually climb up and enjoy a nice slide from there. I could not resist myself from doing that and it was an experience in itself. If you are in polar clothing then it is enjoyable and harmless. Attempting to do it with normal clothing could be dangerous.

Bharati Sliding Point

When I visited the Bharati top, I observed that most of the island was surrounded by the sea. The obvious question popped into my mind was how to go out when the icy sea melts. The major approaches to this station are via sea. It normally does not cause any issue as the sea is frozen for most of the year and you can easily commute on it. However, the expedition people have found out one route which makes it independent of the sea. It is through a bridge to a place called a Pisten bully point.

The next day we headed to the pisten bully point. We started walking in a south-west direction. After passing a couple of hills and ice slides and walking for around 3 km we saw one small wooden bridge at the base of the hill. This bridge is on a small creek of width around 80 - 100 meters connecting the two hills at the base. It was constructed by the 33rd expedition team members in 2013 and helping expedition members since then.

The Bridge

 Approach to the bridge

Once you cross the bridge and go a km further you reach the ice sheet. The pisten bully point is located at this place with a living module. The members going out in the field arrive at this point, take pisten bully and go to the field.

Pisten bully point

Sometimes the members need to travel over 100km/day for field activities which are impossible without one. The only issue is that due to difficult terrain it is not possible to take any vehicle from the station to this point and walking becomes mandatory. But then, this is Antarctica and one cannot be dependant on vehicles anyway…