Kathmandu –
Nepal struggling with rubbish on Mount Everest for a long time. Now, the country strictly limits the number of visits to the highest mountain in the world.
Reporting from Asia News Channel On Saturday (4/5/2024), Nepal’s Supreme Court ordered the government to ban climbing permits to Mount Everest and other peaks.
The ruling was issued at the end of April but a summary was only published this week.
Lawyer Deepak Bikram Mishra, who had filed a petition seeking suspension of permits, told AFP that the court had responded to people’s concerns regarding the mountains of Nepal and the environment.
“The government has directed to limit the number of climbers and also to provide measures for waste management and to preserve the environment of the mountains,” he said.
The summary of the decision says that the capacity of the mountain must be respected and the maximum number of permits must be changed.
The full text of the decision has not been published and the summary does not mention specific limits on the number of licenses granted.
Nepal is currently giving permission to all applicants who are willing to pay USD 11,000 or approximately IDR 175 million to climb Everest.
Last year, Nepal issued 478 permits to tourists to climb Everest. This year Nepal allowed 945 climbers, of which 403 were Everest climbers.
The number of climbers on Mount Everest is often disturbing. Climber traffic on Everest in 2019 caused traffic jams that forced crews to wait hours at the summit in freezing temperatures, threatening lower oxygen levels that could cause illness and exhaustion.
At least four of the 11 deaths in that record year were caused by overcrowding.
“We put too much pressure on the mountain and now we have to give it some slack,” said Misha.
The court decision also ordered a ban on the use of helicopters for emergency rescue. In recent years, helicopters have often been used to transport mountaineering teams to installations and over dangerous terrain.
Nepal Climbing Association President Nima Nuru Sherpa said the decision had to be taken after proper investigation and consultation with stakeholders.
“It is not clear at the moment how this will affect the industry. We do not know on what basis these limits will be created and how they will be divided among tourists,” said Nima.
“Our focus should be on how we can make the mountains safer,” he said.
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2024-05-04 15:10:10
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