Nepal Army to clear garbage and dead bodies from Mt. Everest

Nepal Army has announced to collect around 10 tons of garbage and five dead bodies from the Everest while launching a Mountain Cleaning Campaign 2024 in Mt. Everest region. A 12 member cleaning team from Nepal Army led by Maj. Aditya Karki is embarking towards the Everest base camp on April 14, 2024 to bring the garbage from Mt. Everest, Mt. Lhotse and Mt. Nuptse, according to Nepal Army headquarters sources. An eighteen member Sherpa team will assist the Nepal Army in its cleaning expedition. The expedition will be flagged off by Chief of Army Staff, Nepal Army Gen. Prabhuram Sharma amidst a function in Kathmandu on April 11.

The expedition will bring at least 10 tones of garbage and five dead bodies of climbers lying unattended in the mountain, informed Nepal Army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Krishna Prasad Bhandari.

Biodegradable wastage will be brought to Namche Bazaar below the base camp and will be handed over to Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC) for its proper treatment. The non-biodegradable wastage and dead bodies will be brought to Kathmandu.

The cleaning campaign is aimed at controlling human made pollution in the Himalayas and to address the problems related to the climate change, spokesperson Bhandari told media persons at Nepal Army headquarters in Kathmandu on Sunday.

Nepal Army will collaborate with Ministry of Forest and Environment, the Tourism Department and Nepal Mountaineers Association among others for the cleaning campaign in the Everest region. Nepal 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.