Nepal to demand Mount Everest climbers to bring down waste
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E-mail Xinhua, March 4, 2014
In a move to clean Mount Qomolangma (Mt. Everest), the Nepal government has introduced a new provision as per which every climber will have to bring down at least 8 kg of garbage to the base camp while returning from the expedition from the coming spring season, officials said.
"Each climber will have to return with a minimum 8 kg of solid waste from the coming spring and everyone will have to abide by this instruction," Madhusudan Burlakoti, joint secretary at Nepal' s Tourism Ministry, told Xinhua by phone on Monday.
Though the Nepal government has always sought climbers of world 's highest peak to come down with some solid waste, this is the first time the government has determined the amount of the waste.
The Tourism Ministry announced in the third week of February to set up a contact office at the base camp of Everest to ensure safety of the climbers. The contact office will also comprise Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC).
"The mountaineers will have to hand over the waste he/she carries back from Everest to the SPCC," said Burlakoti, adding, " This will not only help make the peak clean but also help to preserve the glory of Nepal."
The SPCC will then dispose the disposable waste and bring the non-disposable waste to Kathmandu and hand it over to the Kathmandu Metropolitan Office for further treatment.
Previously, climbers were asked to hand over disposable garbage at SPCC while carrying non-disposable waste all the way to Kathmandu and give it to the Kathmandu Metropolitan Office.
Burlakoti said the campaign will be launched as a trial. "If it succeeds, we will prepare a law to further the campaign and expand it to other mountains," he said.
According to government statistics, around 450 climbers from all over the world scale the world's highest peak every year.
Stakeholders said the Everest still has some 50 tons of waste including used oxygen cylinders, ropes, bottles, ladders and clothes, among others, which have been piling up for the last 50 years.
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