Kathmandu, April 10
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Wednesday bid farewell to a government mission that will measure the height of Mount Everest.
This is the first time that Nepal is measuring the height of the highest peak of the world on its own. An Indian team in 1954 had decided that the peak is 8,848 metre tall. Though an American mission claimed its height to be 8,850 metres in 1999, Nepal has recognised the decision of Indian team.
Oli bid farewell to four government employees–Chief Survey Officer Khim Lal Gautam, Survey Officer Rabin Karki, Surveyors Suraj Singh Bhandari and Yubaraj Dhital–deployed in the mission amidst a function organised at his residence in Baluwatar today. Nepal Mountain Academy instructor Tsering Jangbu Sherpa will accompany the team.
Spokesperson at the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation, Janak Raj Joshi, informs that the team will head towards the Everest today itself.
It will submit its report to the government by December this year.
Speaking at the function, Oli said he did not believe rumours that the height of Everest dropped in recent years, especially after the 2015 earthquake.
He directed the mission members to carry out the assignment honestly, while taking care of their health on the peak.
