Barpeta: Shantanu Pratim Lahkar, a native of Barpeta district of Assam, has brought laurels to his motherland by successfully climbing Mount Uhuru, Africa’s highest peak. Notably, Shantanu is the son of Sitaram Lahkar, retired vice-principal of Madhab Choudhary College, Barpeta, while his mother Hiran Saikia Lahkar is a retired teacher of Barpeta Government Higher Secondary School and president of Barpeta Sahitya Sabha. He is a resident of No. 1 Goliahati in Barpeta town and works as regional manager of West and South Zone of industrial chemicals manufacturer MNCGHCL Ltd in Mumbai.
As told by his mother, Shantanu started his expedition on July 14 from Masame Gate of Kilimanjaro National Park in Tanzania. After five days of trekking, covering a distance of over 40 km and an altitude of over 4000 metres, Shantanu finally reached the Uhuru Peak, situated at an altitude of 5840 metres on Mount Kilimanjaro at 6.05 am on July 19. It is worth noting that Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain on the African continent and the largest independent mountain in the world, i.e. it is not part of any mountain range.
Shantanu’s mission was assisted by a six-member team of porters and a guide named Simon Urio from Tanzania. According to Shantanu’s mother, he was fond of mountaineering since childhood, so he was striving to fulfill his aspirations along with regular studies. Later, Shantanu joined a mountaineering organization. While working in Mumbai, he started practicing mountaineering in India and Nepal. After this, he completed many difficult trekking and hiking activities in India and Nepal. In 2022, Shantanu mastered various techniques to climb Everest.
