Katmandu: As part of the Mountain Cleaning Campaign 2024, the Nepal Army said on Sunday that it would gather almost 10 tonnes of trash and five bodies that were lying atop Mount Everest in the Everest region.
According to a Nepal Army source, a 12-person team under the command of Maj. Aditya Karki will arrive at the Everest base camp on April 14 in order to transport the trash from Mt. Everest, Mt. Lhotse, and Mt. Nuptse.
The source said an 18-member Sherpa team will assist the army in its cleaning expedition, PTI reported.
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.