Army team on Everest mission to bring down 4,000 kg trash

New Delhi: Army chief Gen Dalbir Singh on Tuesday flagged off an Indian Army team on a journey to scale the highest mountain in the world to mark 50 years of the first ascent of the Mount Everest by India with an added mission to cleanse the region.  The Indian soldiers will not only climb the highest and the fourth highest mountain in the world - the Mount Everest and Mount Lhotse respectively– but also clean the Everest region by bringing down about 4,000 kg of non-biodegradable waste. Wishing the team best, the Army chief said that keeping in mind the Prime Minister’s stress on Swatch Bharat, the personnel are taking the message forward by bringing down some of the non-biodegradable waste. Major R S Jamwal, an experienced mountaineer and team leader, said the Indian Army team aims to bring at least 4,000 kg of waste from the high-altitude camps down to the base camp. The army mountaineers thus aim to give back to ‘Sagarmatha’ a measure of reverence that she merits, thus conveying a message of Prime Minister’s vision of a clean environment, the Army said in a statement. Fifty years ago, an Indian team, led by Capt (then Lieutenant Commander) M S Kohli had conquered the coveted Mount Everest (Sagarmatha) for the first time. Major A S Cheema, became the first Indian to scale the peak. The team will depart for Kathmandu on April 4 and attempt to scale the peak between May 16 to 31 May. Five members of the team will also participate in ‘Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon’ from Everest Base Camp to Namche Bazar, traversing a distance of more than 42 km. PTI