Everest trail cleanup campaign concludes

The 10-day Everest trail cleanup campaign concluded on June 1. Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal (TAAN) organized the cleanup campaign on the occasion of Diamond Jubilee Celebration of the First Ascent of Mt Everest and World Environment Day. TAAN staffer Devendra Dangol led the 15-member team. The cleanup campaign started from Lukla and went through Phakding, Monjo, Namche Bazaar, Tengboche, Dingboche, Pheriche, Gorakshep and Everest Base Camp. The team collected about 1,500 quintals of garbage and decomposed it at different places along the trail. “Beer cans; wrappers of noodles, biscuits, tobacco and cigarette; battery; and mineral water bottles were found almost throughout the trail,” Dangol said, after returning to Kathmandu. “The Namche Bazaar-Tengboche section of the trail was littered the most.” The team comprised of TAAN representative, representatives of different tourism workers’ unions and locals. “We collected the garbage and safely burnt them at the garbage collection centers of Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC),” Dangol said.