3,000 kg solid waste collected from Mt Everest

Kathmandu: A total of 3,000 kilogrammes of solid waste has been collected from Mt Everest since April 14 when Nepal launched an ambitious clean-up campaign aimed at bringing back tonnes of trash from the world's highest peak, which has lately turned into a 'garbage dump.'

The 45-day 'Everest Cleaning Campaign', led by Solukhumbu district's Khumbu Pasanglhamu Rural Municipality began on April 14 with the Nepali new year and aims to collect nearly 10,000 kilogrammes of garbage from Mt Everest.

Dandu Raj Ghimire, Director General of Department of Tourism, informed at a press conference on Sunday that of the 3,000-kilogramme garbage collected so far, 2,000 kilogrammes had been sent to Okhaldhunga while the remaining 1,000 kilogrammes were brought to Kathmandu using Nepali Army helicopters for disposal.

"Our team has now reached the Everest Base Camp for the cleaning campaign" Ghimire was quoted as saying by The Himalayan Times.

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