Nepal to remeasure Mt. Everest

KATHMANDU: An expedition team assigned by the Nepali government left for Mt. Everest on Wednesday to remeasure the height of the world’s tallest mountain.

Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli bid farewell to the team members at the Prime Minister’s Office in the capital Kathmandu.

The prime minister called on the government-nominated climbers to find the true height of the peak. “It will be the authentic data regarding the height of the tallest peak once you come up with the report,” he told the climbers.

According to the Depart of Survey of Nepal, four government officials, namely Khimlal Gautam, Rabin Karki, Suraj Singh Bhandari and Yuvaraj Dhital, are among members of the expedition team.

The Nepali government’s efforts to remeasure the height of Mt. Everest comes amid speculations from various quarters that the world’s tallest mountain has shrunk after the devastating earthquake which struck the country in 2015.

Although expedition

teams from various countries measured the altitude of Mt. Everest and produced diverse results, Nepal was not a part of those teams in the past.

Nepal has so far recognized 8,848 metres as the altitude of the mountain which was measured by the Survey of India in 1954, according to officials of the Department of Survey of Nepal.

China which first measured the height of the mountain in 1975 reassessed the summit in 2005, measuring the height peak’s rock base 8,844.43 meters covered by 3.5 meters snow.