Nepal refuses Everest clean-up amid pandemic calm

KATHMANDU: Nepal´s government on Friday rejected calls to use the pandemic lockdown of Mount Everest to stage a cleanup of the world´s highest mountain. Fluorescent tents, discarded climbing equipment, empty gas canisters and human excrement litter the well-trodden route to the 8,848-metre (29,029-feet) high summit. Authorities last month suspended permits for all mountain expeditions over the coronavirus outbreak, forcing the Nepal army to cancel an ambitious clean-up on six mountains including Everest. “It is not possible this season,” Danduraj Ghimire, chief of Nepal´s tourism department told AFP. Mountaineering organisations say that the coronavirus crisis is a good opportunity to clean-up what is sometimes called the world´s highest garbage dump. “The government should let a Nepali team just clean the mountain. Apart from clearing trash, it would give employment to Sherpas who have lost this season´s income,” said Santa Bir Lama, head of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.