Record Everest climber raises awareness on climate change

   Kathmandu (dpa) - Record Mount Everest climber Apa Sherpa, who recently completed the 1,555-kilometre Great Himalaya Trail, said Wednesday he wanted to raise awareness about the impact of climate change on the Himalayas.

   On April 19, Apa Sherpa - who has scaled Everest 21 times - and his team completed the trail in 99 days. It runs along the entire base of the Nepalese portion of the Himalayas, across 22 districts.

   Born in the Everest region, Apa Sherpa lost his home, land and relatives in 1985, when the Dikcho glacier lake burst its banks, flooding his village downstream. Then a farmer, he was compelled to take up work as a porter to support his younger siblings.

   "I have experienced the adverse impacts of climate change in 1985 and would like to help draw awareness to it, so that we can mitigate its impact," Apa Sherpa told a press conference in Kathmandu.

   Team member Dawa Steven Sherpa said, "During our trek, we saw how climate change has had an impact on people's livelihood because of the impact on agriculture.

   "Crops have failed in many places, people are waiting for the rain to plant their crops in some places and forest fires are occurring at an alarming rate."

   Their trek started from Suketar in eastern Nepal on January 15, at 2,417 metres, and ended at Darchula, at the far-western border of Nepal with India, at 894 metres.

   Apa Sherpa said he had seen the mountains were melting fast during the 21 times he had climbed Everest - the world's highest mountain that peaks at 8,848 metres  - and the frequency of drought and landslides had increased.

   Last year, Apa Sherpa said he would not climb Everest again, beyond the base camp. He made his first ascent of Everest in 1990.

   Everest has become increasingly polluted because of the waste and climbing gear left behind by mountaineers, as well the bodies of those who died during their climb.
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Nepal ministers muck in for street clean-up

   Kathmandu (dpa) – The prime minister of Nepal on Friday took to the streets broom in hand and sporting a golf cap and breathing mask instead of his usual dark suit and Nepali cap, to launch a week-long cleanup campaign in Kathmandu.

   Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai made headlines as he swept the streets in front of the parliament building, flanked by his wife, Maoist leader Hishila Yami and Local Development Minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi.

   The clean-up campaign was initiated by the government and the city authorities to encourage people to keep their neighbourhood clean and tackle Kathmandu's growing waste management problem.

   "We need to contribute to a clean and healthy Kathmandu, so that we can build a new Nepal, so I request everyone to contribute to this,” Bhattarai said.

   The government has called on every household to provide one volunteer, and said it expects to mobilize up to 10,000 pairs of hands for three hours each day for a week. There will also be a clampdown on littering.

   Ministers, politicians, students, police officers, soldiers, government officials and residents all turned out for Friday's clean-up.

   “This is to make people aware and responsible for their city,” Rayamajhi said. “It’s an example of cooperation between people and government.”

   On the last two days of the campaign, the rivers will be cleaned.
Kathmandu has a long-standing garbage management problem, with piles of rubbish left to fester on the streets, and causing water-borne diseases.

   The problem has become worse in recent years as authorities struggle to find new landfill sites. Residents of areas around dump sites frequently demonstrate to protest for better conditions.
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