Mount Everest is 8,849m high, and the highest mountain above sea level in the world, according to the National Geographic. - UNSPLASH
KATHMANDU: Authorities in Nepal want Mount Everest climbers to start clearing up and disposing their excrement.
The Pasang Lhamu rural municipality, which covers most of the Everest region, has introduced the new rule, according to the BBC. It is part of wider measures being implemented in the area.
Mingma Sherpa, chairman of the municipality, told the British broadcaster that “our mountains have begun to stink”.
The new regulation would require climbers to buy poo bags and bring their waste back down to base camp for proper disposal.
Around 8,000 disposal bags are being procured from the United States ahead of the upcoming climbing season that begins in March.
These are to be used by an estimated 400 foreign climbers and 800 support staff who cook, carry equipment, and guide the expedition.
The poo bags will contain chemicals and powders that solidify the excrement and make it largely odourless, the BBC report said.
The requirement to purchase the poo bag will also apply to climbers scaling a nearby mountain called Mount Lhotse.
Mingma said the bags will be “checked upon their return”.
Excrement left on the higher elevations of Mount Everest does not fully degrade due to extreme temperatures.
At lower altitudes, climbers usually dig holes in the snow to relieve themselves. At higher points, however, limited snow cover means climbers have to do so in the open.
This has led to an unsightly and smelly problem, which Mingma said has caused some climbers to fall sick.
It has also led to health risks for those who live nearby, as well as tarnished the image of the local community.
Mount Everest is 8,849m high, and the highest mountain above sea level in the world, according to the National Geographic. It was first known to have been scaled in 1953.
Since then, thousands of people have done the same, leading to overcrowding and a pollution problem.
The mountain is littered with discarded empty oxygen canisters, food containers and human faeces.
The non-government organisation Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee estimates there are around three tonnes of human excrement between camp one at the bottom of Everest and camp four, about 7,900m above sea level.
Half of that amount is believed to be at camp four, the committee told the BBC.
There have been an increasing number of clean-up campaigns, including an annual one led by the Nepal Army.
The country’s central government has announced several mountaineering rules in the past. However, there has been criticism that they have not been properly implemented. - The Straits Times/ANN
