'Swachhta Abhiyaan' reaches Mt Everest; Nepal collects 3kg of garbage in its clean-up campaign

News Bharati    03-May-2019
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Kathmandu, May 3: India’s mission on ‘Swachh Bharat’ has swayed many places, not only in India but also across the nation. Following footsteps of neighbouring country, Nepal too started its own ‘Everest Clean-up Campaign’. Interestingly, this campaign specially caters the Everest mountain and the Nepalese government’s Department of Tourism announced at least 3,000 kilograms of garbage have been collected from Mt. Everest.

Continuing a 45-day cleanup campaign, the team members to remove a total of 10,000 kilograms of waste. Addressing a press conference, Dandu Raj Ghimire, director general of Nepal's Department of Tourism, informed that the "Everest Cleanup Campaign," is headed by Solukhumbu District's Khumbu Pasanglhamu Rural Municipality. It had already collected nearly a third of its 10,000-kilogram waste goal since it began April 14.

Under this campaign we will be collecting around 5,000 kilograms of garbage from Base Camp area, while 2,000 kilograms of garbage will be collected from the South Col region and around 3,000 kilograms will be collected from Camp II and Camp III area.

The tourism head estimates the campaign will cost approximately 23 million Nepalese rupees by its conclusion. This recent effort comes as Nepal's side of Everest saw a record 802 summits, which, in addition to previous climbs, have resulted in both biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste being littered across the mountain.

According to the Department of Tourism, 2,000 kilograms of garbage were transported to Okhaldhunga landfills, while the other 1,000 kilograms were lifted to the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu by army helicopters.

Tourism officials hope the project's efforts and exposure to the climbing community will usher in a new sense of responsibility for those who visit and plan to take on the mountain.