A view of Mt. Everest, the highest mountain above the sea level, located in Nepal.
Credit: PTI Photo
Kathmandu: Nepal Army on Sunday said that it will collect around 10 tonnes of garbage and five bodies lying at Mt. Everest as it launches Mountain Cleaning Campaign 2024 in the Everest region.
A 12-member team led by Maj. Aditya Karki will embark on the Everest base camp on April 14 to bring the garbage from Mt. Everest, Mt. Lhotse and Mt. Nuptse, according to a source from the Nepal Army.
The source said an 18-member Sherpa team will assist the army in its cleaning expedition.
The expedition, to be flagged off by Nepal Army chief Gen. Prabhuram Sharma here on April 11, will bring at least 10 tonnes of garbage and five dead bodies of climbers lying unattended in the mountain, Nepal Army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Krishna Prasad Bhandari said.
Biodegradable waste will be brought to Namche Bazaar below the base camp and handed to the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC) for proper treatment.
The non-biodegradable waste and dead bodies will be brought to Kathmandu, the spokesperson said.
The cleaning campaign will control human-made pollution in the Himalayas and address the problems related to climate change, Bhandari said.
The Nepal Army will collaborate with the Ministry of Forest and Environment, the Tourism Department and the Nepal Mountaineers Association for the Everest region's cleaning campaign.
The army has been launching the cleaning campaign in the Everest region since 2019 and this will be the fourth such campaign led by the Nepal Army.