Govt set to establish Integrated Service Center at Everest BC

The government is planning to establish Integrated Service Center (ISC) at the Everest Base Camp to better manage expedition teams attempting to reach to the summit of the tallest peak on earth. Purna Chandra Bhattarai, joint secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA), told Republica the center would come into before the spring of 2014. “The center will provide all necessary facilities to mountaineers. It will also coordinate and regulate expedition teams, help conduct rescue operations, look after garbage management, and investigate claims for different records made on Everest,” Bhattarai said. The government decided to establish the center as per the report submitted by incumbent Chief Secretary Lila Mani Paudel, who led the civil servants´ expedition to Mt Everest, in 2011. “We will deploy experts from different sectors like communications and meteorology, among others, at the center so that mountaineers and their supporting staff can get all the information related to mountain safety under one roof,” added Bhattarai. According to sources, the Tourism Industry Division under MoCTCA is working on the financial part before submitting a proposal to the finance ministry for budget allocation. “We are also planning to bring in the private sector as well for finance management. So, it take some time for the project to start,” he added. Though the government has made it mandatory for expedition teams to take along a government employee as liaison officer, expedition operators say such officers take allowances but do not reach the base camp. They say illegal activities in mountaineering are increasing because of such tainted officials. According to Bhattarai, officials deputed at the center will work as liaison officers. Bhattarai also said the government is also committed to control all sorts of activities aimed at creating record that hampers the prestige of Mt Everest.The ministry is also working on to control commercial activities on Everest including the base camp. source: republica