Everest summit and clean up campaign by Nepali and Indian Army personnel

A joint team of the Nepali and Indian Army personnel is all set to embark on an expedition to Mt Everest with a mission of cleaning up the highest peak in the world. As many as 14 Nepali Army personnel and 20 from the Indian Army are taking part in the 70-day ‘Nepali Army-Indian Army Joint Mt Everest Diamond Jubilee Expedition 2013’. Of them, a dozen Nepali Army personnel and as many from the Indian Army will be scaling the summit, the Directorate of Public Relation of Nepali Army said. Rest of them will provide necessary logistics and technical support to the summiteers, it added. While Major Sunil Singh Rathor is leading the Nepali team, the Indian side will be lead by Major Ranbir Singh Jamwal. They are planning to scale Mt Everest between May 5-14, depending on the weather condition. Besides, an experienced team of 34 Sherpa guides will accompany the team to provide necessary support in their mission from the very Everest base camp to the peak. Nepali Army today flagged off the joint expedition. Chief of Army Staff Gaurav Shumsher Rana handed over the national flags of Nepal and India, and the flags of Nepali Army and Indian Army to the leaders of both teams. General Rana wished the expedition team a successful journey and safe return. The team would leave Kathmandu for Lukla on April 11, from where they would move to complete 65-kilometre long trek up to the Everest base camp in two weeks. The expedition is organised to mark the 60th anniversary of Mt Everest by Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary on May 29, 1953. “The main objective of the expedition is not to scale Mt Everest, but to clean the summit,” Indian team leader Major Jamwal told. Interestingly, two Nepalis, working with Indian Army’s Gurkha Rifles — Subedar duo Bishnu Bahadur Rana and Mingma Gurung are also taking part in the expedition. Gurung had scaled the summit in 2007. Major Rathor, leader of the Nepali team, said they were planning to collect as much garbage and solid waste as possible. “We are hoping that we would manage to collect and remove 10 tonne of waste,” he added. They would even collect human bodies, if found in the course of their expedition, according to Nepali team’s liaison officer Captain Babin Kumar Khadka. After scaling and cleaning Mt Everest, the team is set to run a 65-km marathon from Lukla to Everest base camp on May 15. “It will be the first longest marathon to be held at such a height,” Rathor said. This is the second joint military Everest Expedition of Nepal and India. In 2003, Nepali and Indian Army personnel had successfully completed a joint Mt Everest expedition to mark the Golden Jubilee of the first expedition to the summit by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary. Then, 18 Nepali Army personnel and 25 Indian Army personnel took part in the mission. “This event reflects the profound relation and cooperation between Nepali and Indian Army,” General Rana said. Adventure Mountain Explore Treks & Expedition P. Ltd (AME Treks) supports these type of clean up programs of everest regions Some snapshots of everest regions' condition