The Army is taking the Swachh Bharat campaign to the Everest with a mountaineering team planning to clean up and bring down tonnes of garbage dumped there by mountaineers over the decades. The campaign is part of the golden jubilee of the scaling of the world’s highest peak by an Indian team for the first time.
Fifty years ago, an Indian team led by Captain (the then Lieutenant Commander) M.S. Kohli scaled the Mount Everest (Sagarmatha) for the first time. Major A.S. Cheema was the first Indian to scale the peak, Army officers said.
“The Army team will contribute towards restoring the ecological balance of the route by bringing down some of the non-biodegradable waste left behind by generations of climbers,” an Army officer said on WednesdayThe Army mountaineers aim toconvey the message of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a clean environment, the officer added.
The team aims to bring down at least 4,000 kg of non-biodegradable waste from the high-altitude camps.
The 30-member team is being led by Major R.S. Jamwal, an experienced mountaineer. Army Chief General Dalbir Singh flagged off the team on Wednesday. They will depart for Kathmandu on April 4 and begin scaling the peak mid-May. The team has been undergoing special endurance and mountaineering training for the mission.
