It is currently summit week on Everest, with strong pre-monsoon storms lashing the world’s highest mountain. Climbers and their Nepali guides alike are making their way up the mountain in the hundreds.&nbsp; Although there have not been traffic jams seen in previous years, there could still be bottlenecks on the southeast ridge on weather windows on the last week of climbing in May. And now there is a cyclone heading towards the Bay of Bengal right before the end of the spring season. There have been some first ascents, ultramarathons, rescues and even wingsuit dives planned off Lhotse.&nbsp; “When summits happen is absolutely dependent on the weather windows,” explains Khim Lal Gautam, Chief Survey Officer at Everest Base Camp, who has summited the mountain twice. &nbsp; Spring 2024 has seen fewer summits on Everest than previous years, but there have been some notable alpine style climbs on other Himalayan peaks with no bottled oxygen or Sherpa support. Even as the climbing season draws to a close, came word that Apple’s Tenzing Norgay biopic is set to star Willem Dafoe as John Hunt and Tom Hiddleston as Edmund Hillary. Tenzing’s character has yet to be cast.&nbsp; China has opened its side of the peak for the first time since 2021, although it has kept Cho Oyu and Shishapangma closed. In comparison to Nepal side, the northeast ridge on Everest is usually less crowded, is open till mid-June and attracting ‘flash’ teams who go on very short expeditions of three-six weeks. Such expeditions require members to acclimatise at home in tents that simulate low oxygen conditions. &nbsp; The crowded south side route has some higher-end expeditions, willing to bear the cost of extra days at base camp to wait for traffic to clear up. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/mt-everest-pvt-ltd">Mt Everest (Pvt) Ltd</a>, Vishad Onta Preliminary permit data showed that the number of expeditions was much lower than in 2023, but the total has climbed to 414, with about 300 climbers and Sherpas having summited so far. Bhutan also put its first climber on the top of Everest. The 2023 season saw 18 fatalities -- a record. This season started out safer, but is slowly turning out quite deadly. There have been three deaths so far and four more are missing.&nbsp; Two Mongolians climbing without guides or oxygen died after summiting last week, and a Romanian climber died at Camp 3 on Tuesday. A British national and a high altitude guide were swept away onto the Kangshung Face when a section of ice near the Hillary Step fell away on Wednesday. A Kenyan national attempting a no-oxygen summit and his Sherpa guide have gone missing close to the summit, also on 22 May.&nbsp; Video footage retrieved from the phones of the Mongolian pair showed that they did in fact reach the top, although it does seem that they did end up having to use bottled oxygen. &nbsp;Their families, devastated at the news, are waiting in Kathmandu. Many Mongolians, however, have celebrated the pair for having accomplished what they set out to do. “Most likely what happened with the Mongolian climbers was that they ran out of oxygen on the descent,” said Alan Arnette, who has been covering Everest since 2004. “The Romanian death is, sadly, one of those expected that happen every season because of the harsh conditions and exertion.”&nbsp; Their story brings to mind the Mallory-Irvine expeditions exactly 100 years ago on the northeast ridge of Everest. They were last seen alive only 240m below the summit, Mallory’s body was located only in 1999 but there is no evidence that they reached the top.&nbsp; Besides the two Mongolians, others have also done no-oxygen climbs. Sirbaz Khan, from Pakistan, is collaborating with the Imagine Nepal team to complete his 11th no-oxygen 8000er. Piotr Krzyzowksi from Poland climbed Lhotse without oxygen, as did Hugo Ayaviri from Bolivia. Ayaviri also climbed without guide support and was thinking about doing Everest too. Currently, he has returned to Base Camp, slightly frostbitten. Jigme Pelden Dorje became Bhutan’s first Everest summiteer this week. &nbsp;Bhutan was the only Himalayan country without someone who had reached the top. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/everest-70-years-on">Everest 70 years on</a>, Lisa Choegyal  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240525020552_81963cf18eade4bfdf2e4bb75a9d0008c07b1d06c0ddbd6e5d885afdbb65db30.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20240525020552_81963cf18eade4bfdf2e4bb75a9d0008c07b1d06c0ddbd6e5d885afdbb65db30" data-rendition-name="original" width="1248" height="1397" loading="lazy" alt="Alpine style "> <figcaption>Everest from the South summit</figcaption> </figure>  There have been several individuals with multiple ascents this season, which is nothing new for the Sherpas but novel to climbers.&nbsp; Kami Rita Sherpa reached the top twice, beating his own record to notch up 30 summits – a record. Dawa Funzok Sherpa is attempting a fourth summit for the season, and photojournalist Purnima Shrestha is going for her third. Ukrainian guide Valentyn Sypavin scaled Everest twice, then climbed Lhotse, and now plans to do Everest again. “I don’t know if I would want to depend on a guide going on their fourth ascent,” said Arnette, “It is extremely draining to summit.” Questions have been raised as to whether one permit should allow for multiple summits. The government’s stance seems to recognise the first climb and deem the others unofficial, but not illegal. &nbsp; However, with Sherpa to client ratios growing, overcrowding is already an issue on the routes to the summit, especially from Camp 3 and up during the narrow weather windows. This trend could jeopardise the safety of other climbers, especially those on no-oxygen climbs. &nbsp; Nims Purja, the star of ‘14 Peaks’, has faced accusations of taking clients with cheaper Lingtren permits to Camp 3 on Everest, and of faking a rescue to take a chopper to Camp 2 from Kathmandu via Lukla. Earlier, Purja mounted an expedition to Shishapangma with a special permit from the Chinese to recover the bodies of team members who died in an avalanche on the 8,000m peak last autumn. The rescue team cut new routes to retrieve the bodies of American Anna Gutu and Mingmar Sherpa.&nbsp; Purja, an ex-British Special Forces member famed for climbing all 14 8000ers in six months and six days, called the recovery mission one of his most challenging climbs.&nbsp; Gutu had been competing with Gina Marie Rzucidlo, accompanied by Tenjen Sherpa--both of whom were also killed in an avalanche half an hour earlier. Both trying to be the first American women to complete all 14 8000ers and were on their last mountain. The competition led them to push for the summit too soon after a snowfall, when the snow isn’t bonded yet and avalanche danger is high.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-pushes-mountain-bike-tourism">Nepal pushes mountain bike tourism</a>, Vishad Onta <h2>Alpine Style</h2> In addition to non-oxygen summits, there have been other unique, trailblazing ascents. A Korean-Nepali team summited the unclimbed 6,591m Jugal I. The cluster of mountains around Jugal, located 35km north of Kathmandu were only opened to climbers last year. The group is now planning to climb Jugal II. Americans Patrick Johnson and Patrick Gephart climbed a new route on the Northeast Pillar of 6,487m Tengkangpoche in Rolwaling Himal on 23 April. Climbing strictly alpine style, the pair rated the climb a WI3+, a Water Ice climbing grade given to climbs with a near vertical gradient but good places to rest and place screws. Late last year, Tim Miller from Scotland and Paul Ramsden from the UK had completed a first ascent of Surma-Sarovar in Bajhang, having planned the summit with no more than images from Google Earth. It was an eight day climb, with four of the days dedicated to climbing the 2,100m north face. In Spring 2022, the same duo also were the first to ascent Jugal Spire alpine style, a feat for which they earned the highest honour in mountaineering, the Piolet d’Or. <h2>Other Adventures &nbsp;</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240525020548_e610e99ceaeb385bcd6a306eef6d21ed230562845afb17d559f05fd185b12e66.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20240525020548_e610e99ceaeb385bcd6a306eef6d21ed230562845afb17d559f05fd185b12e66" data-rendition-name="original" width="1750" height="1750" loading="lazy" alt="Other Adventures on Everest NT"> <figcaption>Photo: FLEURY ROX</figcaption> </figure>  Besides climbing, there has also been some running. The Great Himal Race, a west-to-east marathon along the Great Himalayan Trail, is on Stage 42 out of 51. The runners are currently in Sagarmatha National Park at Chheplung, and are scheduled to finish at Kanchenjunga Base Camp on 31 May. A separate race, the Everest 135, was also held in early May. It is a gruelling 135-mile race that starts at Jiri and ends at Everest Base Camp.&nbsp; British alpinist and BASE jumper Tim Howell was attempting a wingsuit jump from Lhotse, which would be a record for the highest jump of its type. Howell and his team had been climbing new routes on Lhotse in order to find ideal launch and exit sites. Howell reached an unclimbed point on the Lhotse Ridge 8,200m high where he was to jump from, but he had to cancel as cloudy weather persisted. “Climate change is having a large impact on Everest, especially on the Khumbu Ice Fall. I see a point in time where climbers are forced to take the north route or helicopter rides to Camp 2 become a routine part of the expedition,” said Arnette. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/hurtling-through-the-himalaya">Hurtling through the Himalaya</a>, Vishad Onta

Vishad Raj Onta

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Peak season in the Nepal Himalaya

Just as the winter off-season begins, the pristine beauty of the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-other-attraction-the-night-sky">Gokyo</a> trek is even more apparent because of the absence of crowds. But there is also another absence: of ice and snow.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023121603120_1f2b8c6351ec9473789a76ebb3d4e8cb13d0eb6d1bd6a0bd6dfaae2b464ab29c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2023121603120_1f2b8c6351ec9473789a76ebb3d4e8cb13d0eb6d1bd6a0bd6dfaae2b464ab29c" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Go Gokyo"> <figcaption>1. The view from Gokyo Ri (5,357m) looking north towards Mt Cho Oyu (8,188m, partly hidden) and Mt Ghyachung Kang (7,952m) at sunset. </figcaption> </figure>  Gokyo is always less crowded than the Everest Base Camp Trail, but it is completely deserted in winter. A trek last week that coincided with the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/unabated-greenwashing-at-cop28">COP28 Climate Summit in Dubai </a>was also a stark reminder of what the inability of world economies to completely and immediately phase out fossil fuels is doing to the Himalaya. Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15649">Winter Wonderland</a>, by Katy Elliott  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023121603120_52ba7329a12c405e93c17a01b123af514b11958b326ac687f1220843b6e1c542.png" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2023121603120_52ba7329a12c405e93c17a01b123af514b11958b326ac687f1220843b6e1c542" data-rendition-name="original" width="862" height="676" loading="lazy" alt="Go Gokyo"> </figure>  Often overlooked due to the popularity of the Everest trek, the Gokyo trail deserves a status beyond a hidden gem. Following a flight to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/more-than-luck-in-lukla">Lukla</a>, trekkers can witness the diverse beauty of the Khumbu region in this 11-day trek. The route takes visitors across the famed ‘Hillary Bridge’, through the town of Namche, past roadside shrines, the shores of the five picturesque Gokyo lakes, and finally the peak of Gokyo Ri (5,357m) from where an almost absurdly cinematic panorama of Cho Oyu, Ghyachung Kang and Everest glow in the orange light of a setting sun.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023121603124_9f0509eda7b017f5c91f2af62098c07b946551239e5e5c3b7290c5022993fc64.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="2023121603124_9f0509eda7b017f5c91f2af62098c07b946551239e5e5c3b7290c5022993fc64" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Go Gokyo"> <figcaption>2. Mt Kangtega (6,782m) and Mt Thamserku (6,608m) looking south from the moraine of the Ngzumba Glacier in Gokyo. </figcaption> </figure>  Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/if-the-ice-is-gone-we-are-done">"If the ice is gone, we are done"</a> by Nepali Times At 5,000m the five Gokyo Lakes are the world’s highest freshwater lake system and are considered sacred by both Hindus and Buddhists alike with the waters believed to be the residence of Naag Devata, the Serpent God. The lakes are astride the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/global-heating-melts-mountains">Ngozumba Glacier</a>, Nepal’s longest, which has receded and shrunk dramatically in the past 25 years due to global warming.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023121603124_18c30d4ff4fa38627610cbb69357ae6209c3ac89decbc42e65f3eabcf32621ce.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="2023121603124_18c30d4ff4fa38627610cbb69357ae6209c3ac89decbc42e65f3eabcf32621ce" data-rendition-name="original" width="600" height="900" loading="lazy" alt="Go Gokyo"> <figcaption>3. Namche Bazar, the gateway to the Upper Khumbu and Gokyo is nestled in an amphitheater below Mt Thamserku.</figcaption> </figure>  Like other glaciers in the Himalaya, Ngozumba is now debris-covered as it thaws, and dotted with ice caverns and ponds. The Himalaya is dubbed the ‘Third Pole’ because it has the third largest storage of water as ice after the polar regions. But at present rates of temperature increase, climate scientists say these mountains will lose two-thirds of their remaining ice during this century.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023121603128_a333e27e26ba44b5745195bec07f88440e7e09bcff71b1efe6b651e8729ad33b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="2023121603128_a333e27e26ba44b5745195bec07f88440e7e09bcff71b1efe6b651e8729ad33b" data-rendition-name="original" width="600" height="900" loading="lazy" alt="Go Gokyo"> <figcaption>4. Hotels have sprouted on the shores of Gokyo's main lake, replacing the yak herder's summer huts. This is one of the highest settlements in the world, occupied for two-thirds of the year with residents moving to lower villages during the winter off-season. Mt Taboche (6000m) and Mt Cholatse (6440m) loom over the glacier. </figcaption> </figure>  &nbsp;Over two billion people across Asia are dependent on the Himalaya and Tibetan Plateau for water that flow down rivers that originate here. The tangible impact of the climate emergency is readily apparent all along the Gokyo trek, not just in the melting of the permanent ice, but also the lack of precipitation.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231215151216_83417ded1111fd19aaa2b321625681fedd3a1c7aa47f28c44444a343d691e3d2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20231215151216_83417ded1111fd19aaa2b321625681fedd3a1c7aa47f28c44444a343d691e3d2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Go Gokyo"> <figcaption>5. The last light of the day highlighting Mt Everest, Nuptse and Lhotse 20km away, captured from the Gokyo Ri last week. </figcaption> </figure>

Go Gokyo

Mt <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/on-everest-4-years-after-the-nepal-earthquake">Everest Base Camp (EBC) </a>will have a record number of international expeditions this year, turning it into a global village. But with this comes the problem of waste disposal on the glacier. Some 500 climbers are <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/peak-tourism-in-2023-9ukoi8iz">attempting to scale</a> Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse this season, and there will be four times as many support staff and high altitude guides living, eating, resting and going to the toilet in a tent-city stretching 1km along the Khumbu Glacier. Before the climbers reach base camp, supplies — food, climbing gear, oxygen cylinders, ropes and more will already have been transported from Kathmandu by helicopter. Porters, chauri and jopke carry additional supplies.&nbsp; But when they return from the mountain, whatever they used during the climb will likely be left behind, adding to the 140 tonnes of garbage that is estimated to have accumulated on Mt Everest in the seven decades since it was first climbed &nbsp;in 1953.&nbsp; The Tourism Industry Service Delivery Directives 2013 stipulates that tourism operators and climbers return with the equipment they used during their expedition, including oxygen cylinders, regulators, tents, plastic, as well as faeces. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/chopper-vs-chauri-below-everest">Chopper vs Chauri below Everest</a>, Bhadra Sharma  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230423140416_4f6caeead31515db882a618877bfdc3904209607c4cb2340fe735e3299c84b5b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20230423140416_4f6caeead31515db882a618877bfdc3904209607c4cb2340fe735e3299c84b5b" data-rendition-name="original" width="800" height="423" loading="lazy" alt="EBC cleanup NT 1"> <figcaption>Photos: NEPAL ARMY</figcaption> </figure>  Each climber is also required to bring down 8kg of waste at the end of expeditions. If climbers fail to follow the rules, expeditions stand to lose a $4,000 deposit made before the expedition. However, the legal systems in place have been ineffective due to negligible monitoring at base camp. Most expedition liaison officers have no knowledge or understanding of mountaineering and many do not even stay at base camp. &nbsp; The liaison officers are paid by expeditions themselves and could not be bothered about checking if the expeditions evacuated their waste. &nbsp; Which is why the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/defence-mechanism">Nepal Army</a> had to step in with its 'Safa Himal Abhiyan' to clean up Everest four years ago, deploying 10% of its soldiers assigned to guard the Sagarmatha National Park to clean up the mountain. &nbsp; The army gets funding from the government, non-governmental organisations as well as the private sector, and has been mobilising Sherpas and high altitude guides in mountain cleaning efforts.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/mt-everest-city">Mt Everest City</a>, Monika Deupala  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230423140416_208b1556480038ce12e2b6c2ecd780308bcfe14451cc7aa0b3b1657c82ae63b5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20230423140416_208b1556480038ce12e2b6c2ecd780308bcfe14451cc7aa0b3b1657c82ae63b5" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="800" loading="lazy" alt="EBC cleanup NT 2"> </figure>  Soldiers go through a month-long garbage collection training in the high Himalaya. Once the trash is collected, responsibility for the biodegradable waste is assigned to local communities, while non-biodegradable rubbish is flown to Kathmandu by helicopter. The military has collected 76 tonnes of garbage from Mt Everest, Lhotse, Pumori, Ama Dablam, Makalu, Dhaulagiri, Manaslu and Kanchenjunga. This year, the target is to bring down another 35 tonnes. The Army is also conducting awareness to reduce the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-citizen-scientists-track-climate-change">impact of climate change</a> on Mt Everest and surrounding peaks that are part of the World Heritage Site. But there are questions as to whether the military’s involvement is enough to clean up the Himalaya. “Cleaning the mountains has encouraged the involvement of local mountain communities,” said Nepal Army Chief Prabhu Ram Sharma during a program recently. “But this campaign is not just an issue of importance to one particular community — it should be a national &nbsp;priority.”&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/expedition-brings-down-11-tons-of-mt-everest-trash">Expedition brings down 11 tons of Mt Everest trash</a>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230423140416_d87b48eb9fd781682e96672a9d5c6439cd1dedcae80283789f079f25f491d44a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20230423140416_d87b48eb9fd781682e96672a9d5c6439cd1dedcae80283789f079f25f491d44a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="800" loading="lazy" alt="EBC cleanup NT 3"> </figure>  More than 300 climbers have lost their lives on Mt Everest, many in the death zone above 8,000m. And while the bodies of most have been buried under the ice for decades, increasing global temperature has meant that the bodies of deep frozen climbers are now exposed. Avalanches increasingly bring human remains down the Khumbu Icefall. &nbsp; The Nepal Army retrieved four bodies from high up on Mt Everest in 2019 and there are plans to recover more remains this year. "But the higher along the mountain a climber dies, the more difficult it is to bring them down to base camp," says Khimlal Gautam, who has summited Everest twice, and is the Chief Survey Officer of the government.&nbsp; He adds: “Moreover, recovery efforts are expensive and dangerous as rescuers risk their own lives during the process which is why many bodies from the South Col have not been brought down yet.” Waste management has been a challenge also on <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/annapurna-dhaulagiri-double-take">other mountains</a> which are becoming popular like Manaslu, Annapurna and Kangchenjunga. &nbsp; Gautam, who has been to EBC every year since 2011 to see the impact of climate change says that increasing human activity on Everest and surrounding areas have posed challenges to sustainable waste management. He proposes restrictions to entry for non-climbers on EBC, saying, “Everest Base Camp is for mountaineers, so there is a need to regulate the movement of non-climbers in the area.” Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/if-the-ice-is-gone-we-are-done">“If the ice is gone, we are done”</a>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230423140416_90c4ecb1589b6cf0d627a4b0d7d698e3f101081314aad19eaed6ce9f6a5579a7.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20230423140416_90c4ecb1589b6cf0d627a4b0d7d698e3f101081314aad19eaed6ce9f6a5579a7" data-rendition-name="original" width="800" height="423" loading="lazy" alt="EBC cleanup NT 4"> </figure>  Meanwhile, locals point out that the government has taken funds and sponsorships to clean up the mountains from <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/so-far-so-good/the-season-of-summits">expeditions</a> and has failed in its duty.&nbsp; “Everest will never be pollution-free if helicopters continue to transport material directly to base camp,” says Mingma Chhiri Sherpa, chair of the Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality. The municipality banned the use of plastic products but eased it during the Covid-19 pandemic. Sherpa says that waste management in the region needs a long-term strategy. &nbsp; Residents and the local government for their part say that they will manage the garbage along the trekking routes as long as the government takes the responsibility for trash at base camp and higher up. &nbsp; Says Sherpa: “Waste management will be an endless cycle of polluters continuing to litter, and cleaners continuing to pick up after them if garbage control is not coordinated from Lukla itself.” Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/letters-from-everest-base-camp-1-vfqcer0e">Letters from Everest Base Camp 1</a>&nbsp; Translated by Shristi Karki from the <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/135384?fbclid=IwAR3vVZ3EM5fimnPF0D8T2skZg7EpWanW5mDVJetaEvdASiZ3fuZseRrUoYQ&amp;mibextid=Zxz2cZ" target="_blank">Nepali original</a> published in <a href="http://himalkhabar.com/" target="_blank">himalkhabar.com</a>

Nepal can’t keep up with trash building up on Everest

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131124/637233919c7e80680e0c48ebjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1787" height="1334"/><figcaption>Climate change has been melting the ice even high on Mt Everest, exposing rock and making it more difficult to climb. Photo: DAMIEN FRANÇOIS / NEPALI TIMES ARCHIVE.</figcaption></figure>Climbing Mt Everest at 8,848.86m is on many people’s bucket list. Even just reaching Base Camp in northeastern Nepal, at 5,364m, is a difficult trek. But for Kami Rita Sherpa climbing Everest has been a routine for over two decades, sometimes twice or even three times a year.Born in Thame in a side valley of Khumbu district, he started working as a porter for trekking companies when he was just 12.Now 52, Kami Rita climbed Mount Everest for the first time in 1994 when he was just 24. This year, Kami Rita reached the summit for the 26th time, a new world record.On a sunny monsoon morning in July, he spoke to The Third Pole in a café in Kathmandu. The rainy season is when Mt Everest is closed for climbing, and Kami Rita had a bit of leisure time between the spring and autumn climbing seasons.The Nepal government <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-61828753">reportedly wants to move Everest Base Camp</a> to a lower elevation, because of risks associated with climate change. The Khumbu Glacier on which the camp is located is melting, with a river running through the ice. There is also a waste disposal problem in spring, with 1,500 climbers camped out for at least two months. But as Kami Rita explains, the plan is not supported by all. Excerpts of interview:<figure><figcaption>"Moving base camp will create chaos," says Kami Rita Sherpa. Photo: RAMESH BHUSHAL</figcaption></figure>What is your opinion about the government’s plan to move Everest Base Camp?There is no valid reason to move it. Do you think climate change has impacted just Base Camp? What about the other camps on the Everest route? Where will you shift them? If you say climate change has impacted Base Camp, then don’t you think the other camps have also become riskier due to rapid melting of the ice?Moving Base Camp will create chaos. The camps were established on the basis of the availability of a suitable and safe place, identified through experience and practicality. If you move Base Camp lower, say to the village of Gorak Shep at around 5,150m, then it will just be a stopover to the current base camp, as it’s nearly impossible to hike from the moved Base Camp to Camp I at 6,150m. And you can’t stay anywhere in between, as there isn’t any suitable spot except the current base camp. It will be just an added camp, not an alternative.But the government says it’s becoming more dangerous, and that the decision would create a safer environment for climbers and support staff.I don’t really think Base Camp has become unsafe or less safe. I think it’s the safest point to camp for preparation before heading up and there isn’t a place nearby that’s more suitable. If you move down a little, it’s even more dangerous. Currently, Base Camp is on the edge of the Khumbu Glacier, and moving it down a bit will take you near the foot of Pumori mountain. That’s the place where an avalanche occurred during the <a href="https://www.thethirdpole.net/en/livelihoods/over-750-killed-in-himalayan-earthquake/">2015 earthquake</a> and killed scores of climbers and Sherpas.If you move it further down to Gorak Shep where a flat area is available, which is over three kilometres to the south, then how would you provide water? There is no water source nearby and you must walk for an hour or so to get some water from the ice. Currently, Base Camp has meltwater from glaciers, and even when there is no meltwater, we can cut out the ice and melt it to drink. It would be nearly impossible to carry out expeditions at lower levels so far from glaciers unless there is a continuous supply of water. It’s about feeding over 1,500 people for over two months including climbers, porters and support staff, and we need a large amount of water every day.The Everest climbing route from Camp I to IV is on the Khumbu Glacier. Studies have shown that the <a href="https://www.thethirdpole.net/en/energy/almost-all-everest-glaciers-may-disappear-by-end-of-century/">glacier has been shrinking</a> due to rapid melting resulting from global warming. How has this affected climbing?Rapid melting exposes more of the rock face on mountains and it’s harder to climb rock than ice-covered terrain. It also increases the chances of rockfalls that could cause serious injury or even death. I have noticed more exposed rock, and the length of rock that has to be climbed has increased in the past two decades. Between Camp III and Camp IV, there used to be about 50m of rock when I started to climb Everest, but now it’s over 70m.Likewise, the Geneva Spur on the Lhotse Face at 7,300m has more rock as well. Between Camp IV and The Balcony near the summit, there is a vertical face that used to about 100m of rock to climb, but now it’s about 130m. The rock face on the Hillary Step is also taller than it used to be.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131124/637233959c7e80680e0c48ecjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1399" height="741"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>What other changes have you seen on Everest since you started climbing?There are lots of changes. I can say that the amount of ice on Everest is less than when I climbed for the first time in 1994. Ice is melting at a faster rate and this change is moving higher up, but the bigger problem is that the timings of rain and snow has become irregular. In 1994 and the following expeditions for some years, there would be no water at Base Camp at the beginning of climbing in late April. The Glacier was all ice. We used to crack the ice and then melt it to drink. But now there is a stream of water running through Base Camp, and there are melt pools even at Camp II. This year in April, we got water in Camp II. Now I feel like Camp II is the new Base Camp.If shifting Base Camp is not a good idea, what do you think the government should do to ensure that climbing Everest in Nepal is safe?I think if a decision is made to move Base Camp, more expeditions will just move over to the north side in China. It’s already expensive and challenging to climb Everest from the Nepal side. The Tibet side in China has a lot of facilities and it’s easier to climb from the northern side rather than the southern one. China has electricity and roads right up to the Base Camp on the Rongbuk Glacier. You can go up to 6,500m on yaks. Why would someone come to the Nepal side if you prolong their stay without reason by creating a longer route?Instead of moving Base Camp, the government could spend money on providing electricity at the camp, so that we can reduce the use of gas to cook food. [The use of gas canisters by climbing expeditions <a href="https://everestchronicle.com/base-camp-diary-how-climbing-everest-have-changed-over-time/">has been suggested</a> as a factor in the warming of the area.] One expedition uses three gas canisters per day, and there are about 50 expeditions a year. One expedition takes around two-and-a-half months from Kathmandu and back, and most of the stay will be in Base Camp. You can reduce the use of gas if you provide electricity.Secondly, the government can spend money on providing folding toilets to all expeditions so that we don’t have to carry them every time, and they can charge for the usage. They could invest in providing more reliable weather information and focus on clean-up campaigns [of rubbish left by climbers] along the trail up to the summit.Just doing things to make a news headline won’t solve any problem. There are many more things that could be done to create a safer climbing environment and save the mountains, but an easy fix, like moving Base Camp down, is just a waste of time.What is your message to the world, which has responded very slowly to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, causing snow and ice in the mountains to melt faster?The mountains are not just ours. It’s not just Sherpas who would be impacted, or Nepal that would lose revenue from tourism if the snow and ice melts. It’s the source of water for billions of people. It’s the heritage of the world. If it’s gone, we are done. I think the only way to keep our mountains white is to reduce emissions from factories, planes and vehicles.I remember the Dalai Lama saying that one day we will die because there won’t be water to drink. I feel like that will happen some day soon. I would urge the global community to think about it seriously and act immediately. I can’t do much as a climber, except inform people about the situation out there.I just want to say that the ice on the mountains is vanishing. That’s my information based on experience and it’s up to you to make a decision.This article first appeared on <a href="https://www.thethirdpole.net/en/climate/moving-everest-base-camp-a-ridiculous-decision-says-record-holder-climber/">The Third Pole</a>.

“If the ice is gone, we are done”

1921 Rendezvous:  Mallory, Pumori and Everest

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161124/636d186a9c7e80680e0ac7c6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1080" height="525"/><figcaption>All photos courtesy of PEMBA NORBU SHERPA</figcaption></figure>Till two years ago, Pemba Norbu Sherpa was a happy-go-lucky <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/where-have-all-the-guides-gone/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">trekking guide </a>from Phakding on the Everest Trail. Things were looking up, he was getting trekking clients to guide and would travel to Langtang, Annapurnas and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-other-abc-trek/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">other trails in Nepal</a>.He made many international friends, and endeared himself with his joyful outlook on life. After a day’s hard trek, he would pitch tents, get the food ready, and the next morning would build a plump snowman. Pemba Norbu’s joie de vivre and humour were infectious.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161124/636d186d9c7e80680e0ac7c7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="980" height="980">After the 2015 earthquake his trekking business had started to pick up again. He set up his business and had already saved up some money to build a new house for his elderly parents.All of that <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/virus-fear-closes-everest-treks-again/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">changed with the pandemic</a>. “Before the lockdown, I had a high-quality life,” he recalls. “And before that, I had a beautiful carefree childhood. Covid killed the business.”Some of Pemba Norbu’s childhood friends were infected, and he could not see them because of the lockdown and the need for physical distancing. A few of them and their families died.Not only was Pemba cut off from his friends and family, but the dream of a new house for his parents is also now a thing of the past. He lost his job, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/livelihoods-matter-restart-trekking-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cutting off his income completely</a>.  “Due to Covid, all my treks to Everest and Mustang in the past two years were cancelled,” Pemba explains.Before the pandemic, tourism was Nepal’s fourth-largest industry by employment, with over a million people directly dependent on it. While revenue from tourism contributes only 7% to the national GDP, here in the remote mountains of Nepal, entire villages depend on income from trekking and climbing expeditions.The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/survive-revive-thrive/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">collapse of tourism</a> also had an indirect impact. Locals had no market any more for their produce like potatoes, vegetables and poultry products. Hotel staff, cleaners, cooks were all laid off. Guides and porters have had no work for two years.“I spent the second lockdown in the mountains and the people here don’t have a job or money or anything,” says Pemba. “One of my clients from France helped me financially to distribute rice and salt to the families in Phakding, but there was nothing else I could do to help my fellow villagers.”<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161124/636d186f9c7e80680e0ac7c8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="462">Finally, there seems to be good news. New Covid infection cases and fatalities are falling across Nepal, and with the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-begins-covid-19-vaccination-drive/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">vaccination drive</a><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-jabs-and-jabnots/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a>picking up, tourism is expected to pick up speed by next spring. Everyone has their fingers crossed that there will be no third wave.“We want to restart our business, but we also need to be vaccinated so that when we are with our clients we can work without any fear of infection,” says Pemba. “We are going through a lot, but we have always been neglected by the state and its incompetent leaders.”Indeed, although nearly 23% of Nepalis above 18 are now vaccinated, most of them in the cities and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-jabs-and-jabnots/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">remote areas of the country have yet to get adequate doses</a>. As long as the vaccine is not distributed equitably, the threat of the virus, especially among local Sherpa guides who have to work closely with travellers will be at heightened risk.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161124/636d18729c7e80680e0ac7c9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1080" height="810">Following <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-relaxes-entry-for-tourists/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal’s revised immigration entry protocol</a>,  tourists can now get visas on arrival and those fully vaccinated against Covid with the second dose 14 days before the date of travel, will no longer have to quarantine after landing in Kathmandu. In addition to vaccine certificates and a negative PCR test report, visitors also need to fill out an electronic form.Some travellers did come back in the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/spring-returns-to-nepals-mountaineering/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">spring of 2021 </a> after the government relaxed the lockdown. But it was not enough to revive local economies. “We got some 300 tourists who were here to climb Everest,” says Pemba. “It didn’t help much with the income as much as it created fear of the virus with some patients at the base camp.”Back in Phakding, independent travelers have started to trickle in, but there is also a new phenomenon of Nepali trekkers who are exploring their country in ever larger numbers after the lockdowns.In fact, most trekkers these days in the lodges of Phakding are Nepali. Pemba is regaining some of his cheerfulness and hope for the future. He says: “Things are starting to get better even if marginally, tourists are returning. I might be able to build a new house for my parents after all.”

Trekking in Nepal is open for business

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181144/636be7019c7e80680e0877d4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3024" height="4032"/><figcaption>Past the South Summit of Everest and climbing the Cornice Traverse with the Hillary Step in the background. Photo: KARMA TENZING</figcaption></figure>The height of Mt Everest has grown by 86cm to now measure 8848.86m, the foreign ministers of Nepal and China revealed at a joint virtual live event on Tuesday.The new measurement of Sagarmatha-Zhumulangma (Mt Everest) was declared by Nepal’s Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali in Kathmandu and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing by pressing a crystal ball simultanesouly. The two also exchanged congratulatory messages from Nepali President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Chinese President Xi Jinping to each other.The new height puts end to speculation about whether Mt Everest had risen or shrunk and by how much after the 2015 earthquake, or if there would be a wide discrepancy between measurements by Chinese and Nepali surveyors.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/mt-everest-from-both-sides-now/">Mt Everest from both sides, now</a>, Raunab Singh Khatri and Rastraraj Bhandari<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181144/636be7049c7e80680e0877d5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2144" height="1000"><figcaption>New height joint announcement on Tuesday in Beijing and Kathmandu .</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181144/636be7079c7e80680e0877d6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="805"><figcaption>Sagarmatha Zhumulangma and the China Nepal border. Photo: NASA</figcaption></figure>The announcement came three days before International Mountain Day 2020 on 11 December, and in the week when China’s Chang’e 5 lunar probe is starting its return to Earth with soil samples from the Moon’s surface.Mt Everest’s elevation of 8,848m (29,028ft) had been accepted since 1955. But depending on who is counting, the height has been plus-minus a dozen or so metres since then.The joint announcement of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/re-measuring-mt-everest/">latest measurement of the world’s highest mountain</a> was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic, and officials in both countries guarded the new number as if it was a military secret.In the past century and half, the height measurement has changed as more accurate survey techniques became available.When the Great Trigonometric Survey Of India was done in 1856, surveyors triangulating from the plains found the height to be exactly 29,000ft. However, Sir George Everest, who headed the Survey, thought people would think they rounded off the figure, and added 2ft to it just so it sounded more accurate.The true height differ depending on where it is measured from – mean sea level, or the centre of the Earth. Because of the Earth’s equatorial bulge, Andean peaks can actually be considered ‘higher’ than Mt Everest.Measurements have also differed in the past because some take the elevation of the rock at the summit, while others also add the icing on top. The snow cornices on the peak are about 4m thick, depending on the season, wind patterns, and the impact of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/mt-everest-is-melting-are-you-moved/">global warming</a>.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/global-heating-melts-mountains/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Global heating melts mountains</a>, Nepali Times<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181144/636be70b9c7e80680e0877d7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="648" height="902"><figcaption>The history of Everest measurements.</figcaption></figure>To make it even more complicated, the real height of Himalayan peaks are not constant. There is tectonic pressure which can push mountains up or down, depending on the location. Mt Everest is said to be rising by about 1cm a year, but that is possibly cancelled out by the weathering process.More recently, geologists and scientists had also come up with different views on the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/on-everest-4-years-after-the-nepal-earthquake/">impact of the 2015 earthquake</a>, which is why the new joint measurement was needed. Besides the height, surveyors were also keen to find out if the mountain had moved southwards, and by how much. But the joint announcement on Tuesday did not disclose horizontal displacement.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181144/636be70d9c7e80680e0877d8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="4000" height="3000"><figcaption>Photo: DAMIEN FRANCOIS/NEPALI TIMES ARCHIVE</figcaption></figure>“The height of Everest is constantly changing due to tectonic activity, of which the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/2015/05/27/a-month-that-felt-like-a-year/">2015 Gorkha Earthquake</a> is only the most recent contribution,” Christopher Pearson of the University of Otago in New Zealand, who worked with Nepal surveyors on the measurement in 2018, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-china-re-measure-height-of-mt-everest/">explained to Nepali Times earlier this year</a>. “Since the present measurements are fairly old, we needed to update it.”The New Zealand government assisted Nepal’s Survey Department expedition to Mt Everest in May 2019 with the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), and trained technicians in processing the geodesy, levelling and gravity measurement data.The Nepali survey expedition was led by Khim Lal Gautam, who climbed the mountain for the second time on 22 May 2019, to take measurements with GNSS and ground-penetrating radar. On the risky descent, Gautam nearly died of exposure at the South Col.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/why-we-climb-mountains/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Why we climb mountains</a>, Damien Francois<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181144/636be7119c7e80680e0877d9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="946" height="631"><figcaption>Khim Lal Gautam and his survey team reached at the top of Mt Everest at 3am on 22 May 2019 to avoid the crowds. The GNSS equipment on a specially designed tripod is on the summit behind the climbers.</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/measuring-mt-everest-because-it-is-there/">Gautam wrote in Nepali Times</a> recently about the experience: ‘The near-death experience reminded me of the importance of the summit observation and the responsibility that I had in bringing down the data. We took risk for this raw data so we could get the precise height of Mt Everest.’The Chinese also sent an expedition to climb Mt Everest in May this year – the only team on the mountain because of the pandemic. While the climbers were on top, a Chinese survey aircraft was flying overhead to take airborne gravity survey readings from the instruments on the summit. China said its equipment had “centimetre-level accuracy”.China and Nepal signed an MoU to cooperate on the re-measurement, and had originally planned to jointly announce the height during President Xi Jinping’s visit to Kathmandu in October 2019.K2, the second highest mountain the world in Pakistan is 8,611m, so there is no danger of Mt Everest being demoted any time soon. The famous Hillary Step on the southeast ridge of Everest that used to be the last steep hurdle for climbers, collapsed during 2015, showing that earthquakes do suddenly change the topography of mountains.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/everest-trail-repaired-during-pandemic/">Everest Trail repaired during pandemic</a>, Ang Rita Sherpa

Mt Everest grows by 86cm

<figure><img width="1400" height="1050" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915118/636bb44c9c7e80680e07bb95jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>ken Hutt launches off from 7,200m on Cho Oyu in 2014. All photos: KATIE RIVERS</figcaption></figure>Approaching 62 years old, and after retiring from a police rescue squad in 1996, Ken Hutt needed some adrenaline replacement therapy.He had watched the documentary, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEpKNla63Kw">Miracle In The Storm</a>, about a paragliding competition in which a German flier was sucked up to 9,947m, blacked out and only just came to in time to land it. Another Chinese competitor was also lifted by the same storm, and was killed by lightning.A year after watching the documentary, Hutt was trekking to Everest Base Camp, acclimatising himself before paragliding off the summit of the world’s sixth highest mountain, Cho Oyu, when he started to suffer from altitude sickness.It was April 2014, and an avalanche had just killed 16 Nepali guides on the Khumbu Icefall. Above him, helicopters with stretchers dangling ferried bodies down the mountain.“I’m sitting on the glacier next to Lobuche, watching them, one after the other, feeling really sick,” he recalled. “It was only 5,000m, and I’m supposed to be climbing this 8,000m mountain and flying a paraglider off it.’”His adventure was being sponsored by the Gates Foundation, which was going to triple every dollar he made to help polio eradication. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/polio-hunt/">Nepal got rid of polio in 2000</a>, but the disease still afflicts children in parts of South Asia.  His team crossed the Nepal-China border into Tibet where a friendly local bureaucrat, sympathetic to <a href="https://www.rotary.org/en/our-causes/ending-polio">Rotary’s ‘End Polio Now’</a> campaign allowed him to fly off the mountain. Hutt started climbing, and never felt another pang of altitude sickness. <img width="2464" height="1632" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915118/636bb4509c7e80680e07bb96jpeg.jpg" alt="">He got to 7,200m and had the choice of flying from there, or proceeding to the 8,188m summit with the rest of the expedition. But he couldn’t do both. Next morning, he stuck his head out the tent and it was a glorious, clear day with a 6 knot breeze wafting up the mountain. Perfect for flying. The guide wanted him to summit, but he decided that since the whole idea was to raise money for polio, summiting that mountain was not going to raise any money, paragliding off it was. “In hindsight, I’m pretty disappointed I didn’t summit. I was pretty fit. I was feeling really good,” Hutt says. He pulled the super lightweight (2.7kg) glider from his pack and suddenly became acutely aware of his own inexperience, and the fact he had only flown this particular glider once before -- off a tiny hill near his home south of Sydney. He would be flying in air one-third the thickness, hanging from a glider too small to carry his weight plus the ice axes, sleeping bag, rope and food he had to carry for self rescue.“All the Sherpas were saying it was ridiculous you shouldn’t do this, but once I started to spread the glider out they all started getting really excited about it,” Hutt says. The wind dropped from 6 knots to almost nothing. In the absence of a breeze, Hutt had to launch by running down the slope. After a hop and a skip he was airborne.Then he realised he was not breathing: “I’ve been flying for half a minute or something without taking a breath. All of a sudden there was no air to breathe. Just trying to suck it all in. Nothing.”He tried to come down fast as he could. Landing was something else again. He could not locate the prayer flags he had put up as windsocks at Cho Oyu base camp.“The scale is huge. You have no idea how fast you’re flying, how much sink rate you have. All I did was head to base camp. It was about 13 km on a line of sight. I started to do circles to lose altitude. I lined up base camp, thinking I’m going to have to land on the rocks. ” <figure><img width="2002" height="3000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915118/636bb4539c7e80680e07bb97jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Australian ex-policman Ken Hutt is planning on paragliding off Mt Everest after the pandemic.</figcaption></figure>He was flying at 50km an hour through the thin air, and the noise through the risers was deafening. He landed on scree, and intentionally turned to touch down on his back where an ice axe wrapped in a down sleeping bag protected him.“I opened my eyes and right in front of me was the summit of Cho Oyu,” he said.Now, all Hutt needs is the right permission from the Nepali authorities and the right pandemic case numbers to get cracking on his mission next year at 62 to be the oldest person to fly off the top of Mt Everest. But his trip is in the hands of the gods and Nepal’s bureaucracy.Hutt was told he had verbal approval for the flight from Tourism Minister Rabindra Adhikari, who later died in a helicopter crash. So, Hutt led a trek of Rotarians to Everest Base Camp which raised $180,000 for the End Polio Now campaign. Hutt knows the dangers, but the lure of the Himalaya is more powerful. He adds: “You are being unfair to family. Mountaineering is selfish and dangerous. Throw in a paraglider in the high mountains and the danger doubles.”So, people ask Hutt why he keeps doing it, and his answer is: “If you’ve got to ask you’re never going to understand anyway.”<hr/>PARAGLIDING FROM MT EVEREST1988: French adventurer Jean-Marc Boivin was the first person to paraglide off Everest. He died 17 months later in a BASE-jumping accident.2011: Two Nepalis, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/Connecting-dots/Sano-Babu-paragliding-world-cup,1029">Sano Babu Sunuwar and Lakpa Tshiri Sherpa</a>, flew off Mt Everest without permission, then kayaked down to the Indian Ocean.

Aussie paraglider to jump off Everest

<figure><img width="1497" height="990" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110911110/636b7a369c7e80680e064749jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>HIMALAYAN AIRLIFT: A Qatar Airways Airbus330 takes off from Kathmandu on Saturday with European tourists stranded after Nepal’s COVID-19 lockdown. Photo: MANISH PAUDEL</figcaption></figure>Five days after Nepal went into a nationwide COVID-19 lockdown, a bulk of the tourists stranded in the Mt Everest region are finally being evacuated to Kathmandu for flights back home.There were two flights by <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/2015/10/12/rebranding-tourism-with-remodelled-plane/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tara Air 16-seat Viking Twin Otters</a> on Thursday and Friday from Lukla airfield, but the evacuation picked up momentum on Saturday with Nepal Airlines and Summit Air conducting at least ten ferry flights to Kathmandu. <figure><img width="650" height="488" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110911110/636b7a3a9c7e80680e06474ajpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Tara Air in Lukla Airport. All Photos: KUNDA DIXIT</figcaption></figure>The Australian, British, French, Swiss and American embassies in Kathmandu have been the most active in rescuing their nationals who were up in the mountains when Nepal suddenly announced a lockdown from 16-31 March – grounding all domestic and international flights and putting public transport off the roads. The curfew is expected to be extended to mid-April.There were an estimated 400 trekkers and climbers in the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/everest-garbage-caravan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Everest region</a>, but trekkers were also stranded in the Annapurna and Manaslu circuits as well as Langtang. There are said to be about 800 tourists still in the Pokhara area, and the Nepal Tourism Board estimated that there were <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/10000-tourists-stuck-in-nepal-being-evacuated/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">10,000 tourists in Nepal</a> when the lockdown was announced last Tuesday.The weather was looking iffy in Lukla early morning Saturday, but the ferry flights managed to dodge cloud buildup over Lamjura Pass to conduct the flights, pilots said. Some helicopter charters also flew up the Everest trail to rescue trekkers. <figure><img width="960" height="960" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110911110/636b7a3c9c7e80680e06474bjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Notice posted by Nepal Tourism Board regarding tourists stranded in Pokhara.</figcaption></figure>Yeti Airlines and Buddha Air deployed their ATR72s on Thursday and Friday to bring French, Swiss and other European tourists from the Annapurna area, and more flights are being arranged on Saturday.The British Embassy has asked its nationals in various parts of Nepal to send information for possible rescue. It also arranged an escorted bus that departed Pokhara at 8AM Saturday to bring tourists by road to Kathmandu.The evacuation flights were delayed because of the need to arrange lodgings in Kathmandu, and negotiate ferry flights out to the final destination of the tourists. International airlines have to fly in empty to Kathmandu because of the lockdown.There were also bureaucratic delays caused by coordination between various ministries. The Nepal government has come under criticism for not paying as much attention to Nepalis who are also stranded in the mountains. Trekking guides and porters have also been stuck in Lukla and various other climbing routes.“We have been working with the embassies and various ministries to help the tourists, and are taking all the health precautions to fly them out by allowing special charter flights so that they can be with their families,” said Dhananjay Regmi, CEO of Nepal Tourism Board. <img width="650" height="487" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110911110/636b7a3e9c7e80680e06474cjpeg.jpg" alt="">Qatar Airways in the only airline still making ferry flights, and carried out 600 mainly French and German tourists from Kathmandu to Doha on Airbus330 aircraft on Thursday and Friday. Another flight arrived on Saturday to take stranded Australians back home via Doha.Australian Ambassador Peter Budd posted on the Facebook public group <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/2712912542154556/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Australians Stranded in Nepal</a> that Australian nationals would have first priority, New Zealanders after that, and he also disclosed that if there were seats available his wife and some embassy staff would also be on the flight.There have been concerns about the high cost of one-way tickets, and Budd posted: ‘We have tried to achieve economies of scale by securing the largest possible aircraft …The reality is that aircraft entering Nepal are not permitted to carry passengers. In all likelihood, once arrived in Sydney, the aircraft will also have to return to Doha empty. This adds to the cost.’Faced with a crisis of medical equipment for its hospitals for a future outbreak, the government is sending a Nepal Airline Airbus 330 to Guangzhou on Saturday to bring the items.

More stranded tourists evacuated from Nepal

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101132/636b74319c7e80680e06237ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1404" height="936"/><figcaption>Apa Sherpa making way to a high pass in the higher sections of the Great Himalayan Trail. Photo: HIMALAYAN CLIMATE INITIATIVE</figcaption></figure>A broad smile lit his bearded face as Dawa Steven Sherpa strode towards us down the mountain path. The afternoon sun glinted off grey stone walls and wheeling crows croaked overhead on his approach, a dark coloured dog trotting cheerfully at his heels.Behind <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16260#.Xj-4JNIza70">Dawa</a>, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2015/03/27/in-pursuit-of-stories/">Apa Sherpa</a> grinned broadly, a diminutive figure brimming with taut energy, followed by <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19291#.Xj-32tIza70">Samir</a>, the tall shy photographer hung with cameras, and an entourage of assorted small children and curious hangers-on. After a month walking the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16399#.Xj-2L9Iza70">Great Himalaya Trail</a> the team were bronzed and hardened, their leg muscles solid under the dusty grime, and shoulders rippling beneath sweaty tee-shirts and big packs.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101132/636b74359c7e80680e06237fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="350" height="401"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“Great to see you guys. We are almost halfway!” called Dawa Steven optimistically, hugging his girlfriend who had travelled with us to Gorkha from Kathmandu that morning. “<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19216#.Xj-3JNIza70">The dog has been with us since Thame!</a>” After our early start, we were happy to sit with the party exchanging news over cups of milky tea in a village shop, prior to the official municipal welcome felicitations within the lofty precincts of the Gorkha palace.The Great Himalaya Trail <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2012/01/13/the-great-himalayan-trek-begins/">Climate Smart Celebrity Trek</a> was the brainchild of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19015#.Xj-4i9Iza70">Prashant Singh</a>, traversing the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/2010/09/25/the-great-himalayan-trail/">1,700km length of the Nepal Himalaya</a> through 22 districts <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/nepals-grand-trek-road/">from Ghunsa in the shadow of Mt Kangchenjunga in the east to Darchula in Humla</a> on Nepal’s far western border. Its high-profile purpose was to draw attention to the effects of climate change on mountain ecosystems, and spread the word to the local communities through which they passed.The historic town of Gorkha was a convenient meeting point, although closer to one third the total length. Prashant and I had brought a bus-load of Kathmandu-based media to further publicise the initiative. And to check how they were getting on in those days before widespread cell coverage connected the hills.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101132/636b74369c7e80680e062380jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="1600"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Apa, the first ‘Super Sherpa’ to summit Everest 21 times, came from his Utah home for the awareness-raising event, and Dawa Steven took a break from mountaineering and climate ambassador advocacy activities. Prashant’s <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2012/01/13/the-great-himalayan-trek-begins/">Himalayan Climate Initiative</a> was just newly formed in 2012, and keen to make its mark on the government, local NGOs and foreign donors concerned with environmental issues whom he had persuaded to fund this novel expedition.The effort was lauded by the President and Prime Minister, and several intrepid ambassadors and Kathmandu development workers accompanied sections of their hike. Messages of goodwill and “god speed” were received from international supporters such as Al Gore, Reinhold Messner and Joanna Lumley. At a roadhead in Sindhupalchok, Apa was presented with a certificate from the boss of the Guinness Book of Records in a makeshift ceremony.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101132/636b74399c7e80680e062381jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1459" height="1094"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Films and photos taken along the route are still being used today, showcasing some of the most rugged and breath-taking mountain landscapes on earth, and passing beneath eight of the world’s highest peaks. Both VNY2020 and Nepal Tourism Board are dedicated to promoting the Great Himalaya Trail as a long distance multi-day walk, conveniently divided into bite sized sections to encourage repeat visits. <a href="https://nepalitimes.atavist.com/rebranding-tourism-with-remodelled-plane-">Tara Airlines have painted the GHT logo</a> onto its STOL aircraft and boarding passes.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101132/636b743d9c7e80680e062382jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1600" height="1200"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Himalayan Climate Initiative has since become one of Nepal’s most innovative organisations, dedicated to finding sustainable solutions and practical business responses to the rapidly escalating environmental concerns that are engulfing Nepal. Recycling plastic bottles, producing re-useable shopping bags and collecting rainwater are just some of the ideas they have turned into thriving social enterprises. Based in an expansive Budhanilkantha site, I recently listened to exciting experiments from college kids that included vertical vegetable farming, natural water purification, plastic waste for road building, and reuse of household grey water.The celebrity trek was cleverly created as part of the overall Great Himalayan Trail Development Programme, a government project supported by the British and Dutch, and designed by a TRC team of Nepali consultants of which I was team leader. Our objective was to spread tourism benefits and stimulate local livelihoods by promoting trekking beyond Sagarmatha, Langtang and Annapurna. In 2010 an estimated 95% of all trekkers to Nepal were concentrated in those popular protected areas with only 6,000 tourists venturing further afield. Today, that figure has grown to nearly 30,000, and more when Nepali trekkers are included.I certainly did not conceive this ‘iconic and globally significant new tourism product’ for Nepal, but I was the first to weave it into government plans -- the National Ecotourism Strategy and Marketing Plan first featured the Great Himalaya Trail in 2001, a long time ago.Two people had stumbled upon the GHT concept concurrently from their different perspectives – marketing and rural development. Jamie McGuinness, a Kiwi climber and trek organiser, one evening in 2000 on my pink sofaed sitting room, explained his inspired idea to film a multi-country trek along the length of the entire Hindu Kush Himalaya. Shortly afterwards, Malcolm ‘Mac’ Odell of The Mountain Institute, over lunch in his Baluwatar home, shared his brainwave to harness tourism to bring benefits and business opportunities for remote communities between and beyond the three established trek areas.We were following in the footsteps of early pioneers. Mountaineer Peter Hillary led the first high altitude traverse in 1980, Americans Arlene Blum and Hugh Swift first walked the full length from East Bhutan through Nepal and India in 1982, and the British Crane brothers first ran the Nepal Himalaya in 1983. Many adventurers have ensued including commercial trips, boosted by Robin Boustead’s 2011 book, several websites and a series of published maps.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101132/636b74409c7e80680e062383jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="1600"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>We modified the route to maximise benefits for mountain residents, using a cobweb of lower trails winding east west through the middle hills, ensuring the widest appeal for hikers and even bikers. Like the historic Silk Road, the precise path moves with the time of year and aspiration of the trekker.Waving goodbye in the sunshine outside the glowing brick walls of the Gorkha palace, Apa, Dawa Steven, Samir and their team still had a very long way to walk. Speeding along the trails as their fitness levels increased, and despite daily stoppages to explain their mission to ever-growing crowds of interested villagers and local authorities as word spread ahead of them, they completed the traverse in just 99 days.And when they returned to Kathmandu, tired and triumphant, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19057#.Xj-3ptIza70">Setuk the dog ‘with yellow eyebrows’</a> was still with them.Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/no-lovelier-spot-than-kakani/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No lovelier spot than Kakani</a>, Lisa Choegyal

Lisa Choegyal

The Climate Smart Great Himalayan Trek

One smoggy winter morning in February 2019, Ekta regretted coming to her sculpture class. It was the first day of her period, and the 19-year-old wished she was home, curled up in bed with a hot water bag to soothe her cramps.
Her class was at Kalapremi Ceramic Studio, a dark room on the ground floor of a house in Maharajganj, and Ekta’s teacher was the artist Gopal Das Shrestha ‘Kalapremi’, a noted sculptor.
Two other students were already there, using all their muscle strength to knead the sculpting clay. Ekta, now 24, recalls how Kalapremi asked her if she was feeling all right. She avoided him, as she did not want everyone to know she was menstruating.
Kalapremi repeatedly asked Ekta what was wrong. She finally muttered that she was having her period, after which he grabbed her hand and led her to a partitioned corner of the studio and sat her on a chair. Before she could stop him, he slid his hand under her dress, and started massaging her abdomen.
“I was horrified,” Ekta recalls. “I told him to stop, but he didn’t listen, asking me not to be shy, saying he knew how to relieve my pain. He stopped only after I protested furiously.”&nbsp;
The art tutor then said, “You’re like my daughter. I’m doing it out of love to make you feel better, but you’re so stubborn.”&nbsp;
“Instead of saying sorry he acted like I was the one having crazy thoughts,” remembers Ekta, adding that from April 2016 to August 2020 beginning the time she was 16, the artist sexually abused and harassed her on several occasions. &nbsp;
Now, Ekta and the artist’s other former students are finally sharing their experiences and some are pressing legal charges against him, hoping that others do not have to endure what they did.&nbsp;
Award-winning artist and teacher Gopal Das Shrestha ‘Kalapremi’ (the name means ‘Art Lover’) is known for his ceramic art, sculpture, and contemporary pottery. He was <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/the-house-of-kalapremi">profiled in Nepali Times after a collaborative exhibition</a>, ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ at the Siddhartha Art Gallery three years ago.&nbsp;
His pieces, titled Gaalis, featured sculpted female figures with the heads of dogs, sheep, and donkeys (pictured) to depict derogatory terms for women. Some critics said the collection was a satire on feminists.
Kalapremi started his artistic and teaching career in 1983 and over the years taught at Bhanubhakta School, Kathmandu University School of Arts, Lalitkala Campus and at his private Kalapremi Ceramic Studio. He has also lectured at Jeonju University in South Korea and recently at Tabor Academy in the United States.
Seven of Kalapremi’s former students were interviewed for this story. Five female students said he touched them inappropriately in his studio or at Kathmandu University. Two male students said they witnessed him abuse and harass the women. In all cases, the students struggled to recognise the abuse when it occurred, and the lack of reporting systems left them to cope on their own for years.&nbsp;
Earlier this year, students shared a social media post hinting at Kalapremi’s history of abusive behaviour following which more students of the artist reached out sharing similar experiences. Some students spoke of abuse that happened as long as 20 years ago.
Kalapremi, 60, has denied the allegations. He told Nepali Times: “Some years ago, there was a movement encouraging people to hug and kiss. I used to do it purely out of friendship and love. But after seeing posts on social media last year calling out my behaviour, I realised my actions may have hurt some people. I understand now that I should have been more mindful.”
He added: “I am also an auxiliary health worker, so I know the exact points to massage to relieve menstrual pain. It’s not just menstruation, I take anyone who is ill to the hospital.”
Sexual abuse is much more rampant than reported given how difficult it is to prove it in court. The law defines sexual abuse as occuring when someone touches another’s private parts, coerces them into touching theirs, uses vulgar language, shows degrading images, or behaves indecently towards them without consent.&nbsp;
Ekta and her fellow students are consulting lawyer Suneeta Regmi Pokhrel, who says they know that even if the court decides in their favour, it is difficult to survive after speaking up, and influential men defend themselves saying they are being framed.&nbsp;
“They are in a lot of pain and weep when recalling how he abused them,” Regmi Pokhrel told us. “They are angry and have filed a case against him, but they are also terrified. They know he is a powerful man and they have seen how our society treats women who speak up against abusers. Unless people speak up, perpetrators will be emboldened.”
Art and academia in Nepal simply reflect the power imbalances in society where people with intersecting identities experience worse forms of abuse. Theatre actors Raj Kumar Pudasaini, Rajan Khatiwada, and Sunil Pokhrel were called out during the #MeToo movement in the Nepali theatre scene in 2019. Even after the allegations Pokhrel went on to receive national awards, while others continued to work without repercussions.
“If you speak up against abusers, you gradually get sidelined from projects,” explained a theatre artist who wished anonymity fearing professional setbacks. “The theatre scene in Nepal is quite small, you just have to make peace with the perpetrators and work with them if you want to sustain yourself.”&nbsp;
In academia there is a history of faculty members sexually harassing students and getting away with it. After Tribhuvan University (TU) lecturer Krishna Bhattachan was accused of harassing women students, the university said it would follow Nepal’s sexual harassment law and set up a reporting mechanism. But nothing happened to the professor, who had already retired. Instead, he counter-accused the students of 'attacking the indigenous people’s movement with baseless allegations' as <a href="https://kathmandupost.com/letters/2019/01/29/bhattachan-responds">he told the Kathmandu Post in 2019</a>. He continues to be featured as a prominent speaker including at TU.
Other faculty members previously accused of sexual harassment include Jagadish Murti Koirala from TU, Bishnu Prasad Acharya from Ratna Rajya Campus, and Bodha Raj Tripathee from Lalitpur Madhyamik Vidhyalaya. A woman staff member from TU also filed a sexual abuse complaint against Dambar Chemjong from TU.
Prominent figures like <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-rise-and-fall-of-nims-purja">mountaineer Nims Purja</a> have been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/31/sports/mountaineering-sexual-harassment-abuse-nims-purja.html">accused of sexual assault</a>, and cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane, actor <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/celebrity-rape-case-spotlights-nepal-laws">Paul Shah</a>, and former speaker of Parliament <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/mahara-arrested">Krishna Bahadur Mahara</a> have been accused of rape, but society-at-large has let off the alleged perpetrators amdist a larger debate about justice for survivors and punishment of perpetrators.&nbsp;
‘Gaushala-26’ is the court name given to the 18-year-old who accused Sandeep Lamichhane, former captain of Nepal’s national cricket team and skipper of Biratnagar Kings in the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/here-comes-the-nepal-premier-league">ongoing Nepal Premier League</a>, of rape. She left the country citing society questioning her character affecting her mental health while Lamichhane got an outpouring of support. In May, the Patan High Court overturned a prior verdict that found Lamichhane guilty of rape and had sentenced him to eight years in prison. During the 23-month legal battle to pursue justice, Gaushala-26 faced threats of gang rape and acid attacks.&nbsp;
Exhausted by the struggle, Gaushala-26 sought to “move to a new world” where she could live free without hiding her identity.
Actress Samragyee Rajya Laxmi Shah in an Instagram video now deleted detailed the harassment she faced from a filmmaker during a movie shoot. She did not name any name but veteran actor Bhuwan KC filed a defamation case against Rana, but the court ruled that the charge lacked sufficient evidence.&nbsp;
Former Kathmandu mayor <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/theytoo">Keshav Sthapit also mocked the #MeToo movement</a>, calling accusations against him by journalists Rashmila Prajapati and Ujjwala Maharjan “a rape of men’s rights”.
Serial Abuse
Back at the Kalapremi Ceramics studio, another former student, 24-year-old Rajiv, says he felt the need to speak out after seeing his female classmates being abused.&nbsp;
“He frequently kissed them on their cheeks,” he told Nepali Times. “Whenever they walked into the studio he flailed his arms like a child asking for a hug. They awkwardly hugged him from the side, but he pulled them closer, held their chin, and kissed their cheeks.”&nbsp;
Rajiv says he also saw Kalapremi pull the women’s bra straps, touch their breasts, and slap their buttocks. The young students would freeze, not knowing how to react, and if they protested, he would say it was “normal in art”. Rajiv, 19 at the time like his classmates, remembers thinking perhaps the well-respected artist was right after all.
Another student, Luna, who took lessons at Kalapremi’s studio from 2020 to 2022 did try to confront the tutor after he made an obscene proposal to her. She recalls: “One day when the other students had left the studio and it was just the two of us, he told me that God had given him special artistic talent and he could transfer those powers to me. But to do that both of us will have to be naked, inside a dark room, and have sex.”
Luna, who was 18 then, was livid and told him she did not want any of his powers, but she says he laughed at her as if he was joking. She did not tell her family about the incident because she thought no one would believe her.&nbsp;
“They were all in awe of this famous artist and felt I should be grateful that to be learning sculpting from him,” she says. “I was scared to be alone with him in case he talked about sex again. My coping mechanism was to be rude so he wouldn’t try to come close to me.”
Seeing how some classmates were standing up to Kalapremi, Ekta too tried to push back against his advances, but she said he found ways to coerce her. Since Ekta, Rajiv, and Luna could not afford Kalapremi’s Rs30,000 monthly fee for lessons, he had offered them all a stipend to assist him in the studio.
“He had spondylosis and took me to his therapy sessions to learn massage techniques, then he often made me and other students massage him,” says Ekta. Whenever she refused, he would feign pain to make her feel sorry for him. “He would insist that I put my hands under his shirt so that I could massage him better,” she adds.
The art tutor often tried to “seduce sympathy” from Ekta by sharing how he had never been loved as a child and was “sexually frustrated” as an adult.&nbsp;
“At 7PM, he would pour himself Signature whiskey and immediately go off again about how he was sex-starved. I didn’t know how to respond. It took me time to realise alcohol was just an excuse to talk about sex,” Ekta says.
If convicted, Kalapremi could face financial penalty and/or a prison sentence of up to three years according to Section 224 of National Penal (Code) Act 2017.&nbsp;
Data suggests that victims of child sexual abuse on average take nearly 24 years to tell someone about their trauma, and some may never disclose it at all.&nbsp;
“In our culture, children are rarely taught about boundaries. They often react, show anger when adults pinch their cheeks. But adults insist they did it out of love, and force the children to accept it,” says Sita Lama, a psychotherapist at Manka Kura. “And even when someone touches them inappropriately they struggle to identify and verbalise it.”
When perpetrators claim to be “acting out of love”, Lama says survivors are likely to perceive it as something safe, rather than recognising it as abuse.&nbsp;
“It may take years for them to realise they were abused,” she explains. "And even when they become aware, the power imbalance with the abuser and the associated shame often prevents survivors from speaking up."
Other former students from the School of Art at Kathmandu University have also come forward years later, saying Kalapremi sexually abused them. As young adults, they felt his behaviour was off but were uncertain if it was inappropriate, illegal, or they did not know how to respond. After having understood that it was indeed abuse, they say they are speaking out now to protect others.&nbsp;
Amina Singh, a visiting faculty member at Kathmandu University, says there is no clause against sexual abuse in contracts of teachers, and there is no formal grievance handling mechanism for the students.&nbsp;
“So the only way students can to deal with sexual abuse is approach someone they trust,” she says.
Eight other former art students of Lalit Kala Campus and Srijana College of Fine Arts of Tribhuvan University and other private art studios in Kathmandu say they were also sexually abused by their art teachers. Three faculty members interviewed from these institutions said they saw the abuse, but felt it was futile to report it given how powerful the teachers were.
In the absence of a formal system, some longtime women artists warned each other about “problematic” artists. They shared &nbsp;a “heads-up” to be more cautious when collaborating with them, and avoided responding to their calls and texts after work hours.
To ensure art institutions are safe for all, galleries, museums, artist studios, and smaller art spaces need to develop policies on sexual harassment. This would include a code of conduct or studio policies that hold the leadership accountable and outline the principles of professional ethics.&nbsp;
Students and employees should inquire about accountability mechanisms for raising concerns, both formally and informally, advocates say.
Three years after Ekta left the ceramics studio, she learnt that Kalapremi had harassed many other women. Still trying to get a footing in the art industry, she attended a workshop in Kathmandu where women artists discussed ways to stay safe in the art sector.&nbsp;
Since it was a close-knit group Ekta opened up about how she felt violated and realised she was not alone, he had been abusing underprivileged students for years, and this was common knowledge among artists in Nepal.
Ekta says that even after she quit, Kalapremi continued sending her text messages like ‘I am thinking of you’, ‘Why have you stopped speaking with me’, or ‘I am waiting for your call’.&nbsp;
But what really forced her to act was when Ekta found out that he was sending similar texts to her younger sister.&nbsp;
“I’ve had enough,” she told us. “He abused me all these years but I won’t let him abuse my sister.” &nbsp;
Ekta, Rajiv and Luna are not the real names of the students.&nbsp;

‘Art Lover’ accused of sexual abuse

It was 8:15 in the evening of 25 March 1968 when everyone in the village of Batulechaur near Pokhara heard a deafening sound like thunder as a bright flashing object hurtled down to land in a field.&nbsp; That field belonged to Kul Timilsina, and the next morning he retrieved a sheet of metal about 2m by 1m and carried it home with the help of a few others, thinking it would be useful for his buffalo shed.&nbsp; Before he died at age 83 three years ago, Timilsina had told photo archivist Sunil Ulak that the black metal sheet was not rectangular and had rounded corners. There are a few witnesses still alive who have a clear recollection of the object that fell from the sky that night.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024120707128_75cc85aac56b9cc4a77366471f058d7b3eb6868776811b0923845c2d0a61f014.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2024120707128_75cc85aac56b9cc4a77366471f058d7b3eb6868776811b0923845c2d0a61f014" data-rendition-name="original" width="1170" height="601" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> <figcaption>The field in Batulechaur belonging to Kul Timilsina where fragments of a flying object fell from the sky in 1968.</figcaption> </figure>  One of them is Timilsina’s wife Gyanu, who was 22 at the time. She had been at home, and remembers hearing the big bang and the sky becoming very bright. “We saw the thing in the field in the morning,” she told us. “It looked like a lid, a covering of some sort. The way it was stuck in the ground, it must have fallen from the sky. We thought we could use it to dry clothes on, and took it home.”&nbsp; Another witness is Kul Narayan Paudel. “I was only eight then. We ran to the field to see what had fallen. It was a four-sided metal sheet. The elders took it away, and I don't know what happened to it.” &nbsp; Ram Bahadur Baniya, a teacher at the local school, says he had heard the sheet had been brought to the school, and later handed over to the Zonal Commissioner at the time, Nanda Prasad Malla. “But that is all hearsay,” he says.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024120707128_0bf207a12063fb8155b3c8d9a00a94887b126380c9e0627527c84cf5e1101f54.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2024120707128_0bf207a12063fb8155b3c8d9a00a94887b126380c9e0627527c84cf5e1101f54" data-rendition-name="original" width="1170" height="610" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> <figcaption>Gyanu Timilsina, wife of Kul Timilsina.</figcaption> </figure>  There are two versions of what happened to Kul Timilsina’s metal sheet. One is that an American Peace Corp Volunteer teaching at the nearby Bindyabasini School took it, and another is that it was handed over to the government. Recently declassified Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and US State Department documents from the time say that the US Embassy in Kathmandu tracked down the object two years later and had it shipped back to the US. A telegram from the Department of State and Department of Defense tagged as ‘MOON DUST / Space Fragments’ dated 1 March 1972 stated: ‘1. Restored space fragment will be on board Embassy support flight 115 arriving Kathmandu on or about March 10. Fragment is packed in shipping crate (cargo no. 72-33365) marked in care of DAO.&nbsp; 2. State and Defense representatives examined fragments prior to shipment finding restoration acceptable.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071212_929d903ee06d41baa4f6040e981cd7c7d7bd75cc9c37c9b617d307fc8538d2df.png" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20241207071212_929d903ee06d41baa4f6040e981cd7c7d7bd75cc9c37c9b617d307fc8538d2df" data-rendition-name="original" width="856" height="568" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> <figcaption>Declassified CIA documents about the investigation into the object sighted in Pokhara. </figcaption> </figure>  The documents show that the US government, military and intelligence agencies investigated this incident thoroughly when it occurred, and have continued to revisit it ever since, as recently as five years ago. What is even more intriguing is that the object that fell in Pokhara was not the only unidentified space object that fell to earth that year. There were similar sightings of objects falling from the sky in Ladakh, Sikkim and Bhutan between 19 February and 25 March 1968.&nbsp; These mysteries were the subject of a CIA investigation in 1968 titled ‘<a href="https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP81R00560R000100070007-8.pdf">Sighting of Unidentified Flying Objects in Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan</a>’, and the report is part of the recent online declassification of 800,000 top-secret documents from the period.&nbsp; &nbsp;Although unidentified flying objects (UFOs) have a connotation now of being alien craft, it could be pieces of satellite, missile, rocket or even aircraft. The CIA report documents six sightings in 1968 and quotes local sources as describing all of them having similar characteristics: bright blue or red streaks in the sky accompanied by loud sounds like lightning and thunder and objects falling to the ground. Aside from the metallic object that was found in Batlechaur, there were other items also found nearby in Tallakot, Tureypasal, Armalakot and Maidan. Whatever the object was, it seems to have disintegrated even before it hit the ground.&nbsp; The CIA report records the first sighting on 19 February 1968 in various parts of Sikkim and Olangchung Gola and Ghunsa in eastern Nepal. The light was said to be ‘long and thin’ and giving out ‘green and red light’. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071212_c3c825027d966a2aedc846970390eebe063957503c7eacc8e01e0517843f9bbb.png" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20241207071212_c3c825027d966a2aedc846970390eebe063957503c7eacc8e01e0517843f9bbb" data-rendition-name="original" width="892" height="596" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara "> </figure>  Two days later on 21 February, a soundless blue object was seen traveling fast across the sky above Thimphu in Bhutan. Then on 4 March there were multiple daytime sightings or white streaks in the sky at Chang La Pass, Fukche and Koyul in Ladakh. There were more sightings in Ladakh on the very day fragments fell near Pokhara on 25 March 1968.&nbsp; After the sightings in Pokhara, rumours started flying in Kathmandu that these were aliens trying to land on Earth, it could be Russian or Chinese spy planes or satellites, and some even say it as a sign from heaven that the end of the world was near. This was at the height of the Cold War. The Russians and Americans were testing their thermonuclear devices as well as intercontinental ballistic missile delivery systems. The Washington-Beijing rapprochement had not yet happened, and China was making quick progress testing atomic bombs. Within two years after its first atomic test, in 1966 China exploded its first hydrogen bomb at the Lop Nur site in Xinjiang, 3,000km to the north from Nepal. After neary six decades, what is still intriguing is that all the sightings within a few months of each other in 1968 were along the Himalayan arc bordering Tibet: from Bhutan, Sikkim Nepal, to Ladakh. The US military intelligence seems to have concluded that this was not a coincidence and there were frequent research trips to the site in Pokhara by American officials in the months after the incident. With the help of the Royal Nepal Army, the region north of Pokhara was thoroughly searched.&nbsp; A confidential memo dated 25 June 1968 by Jerry C Trippy to a ‘Mr Farley’ mentions that the US Air Force’s Foreign Technology Division had decided that the debris could be important because it may be related to a Chinese missile test or a Soviet ‘Vehicle Venik’ rocket.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071216_feb5425692dc36b20187de4e4fcc2ce9fd12b6d9e1b8724398e50bcdbf9032fe.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20241207071216_feb5425692dc36b20187de4e4fcc2ce9fd12b6d9e1b8724398e50bcdbf9032fe" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> </figure>  On 28 August 1968 the US Embassy in Kathmandu sent a letter to Washington DC saying that the object could be of Soviet origin, possibly from when the rocket carrying the ‘Kosmos 208’ satellite re-entered the atmosphere. But why were the fragments falling to earth several weeks apart, and in the same region? No one knows where the metal sheet that Kul Timilsina recovered is now. It was definitely packed in a crate and taken to the US, and although it is rumoured that it was returned that is not very likely. Archivist Sunil Ulak heard from the Timilsina family that CIA officials had returned to the site five years ago. &nbsp; Interest in UFOs peaked in the US in the 1950s, with the Cold War space race and tests of atomic weapons and delivery rockets. CIA and scientists were being sent to investigate sightings, both publicly and privately. Could the Pokhara fragments as well as the sightings in Ladakh and Bhutan actually be alien craft falling to earth? The renewal in interest in space travel in large part due to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, UFOs and sightings are again subjects of public interest.&nbsp; Even 57 years later, even if there was definitive proof about whether the Batlechaur fragment was from a Chinese missile or a soviet rocket, it has not been made public in documents declassified so far. We may never know.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071216_b6938795f40731e7657fd6dcbb3cf460a326186a15eb11d4f832f602201ff598.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20241207071216_b6938795f40731e7657fd6dcbb3cf460a326186a15eb11d4f832f602201ff598" data-rendition-name="original" width="642" height="320" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> </figure>  Sunil Ulak speculates if the debris actually came from an American aircraft, perhaps on an intel mission upon China. “Which could explain why they were so thorough in collecting the fragments in Pokhara,” he says. But that still does not explain the multiple sightings weeks apart in 1968.&nbsp; Indeed, US military aircraft were at that time flying frequent night-time missions from air force bases in India to supply weapons to Khampa guerrilla camps in Nepal located north of Pokhara in Mustang. It could very well be that the Chinese shot down one such aircraft. The other sightings could have been contrails of US spy planes, or Chinese anti-aircraft missiles.&nbsp; There were quite a few developments regarding UFOs in 2024. In a US congressional hearing in July, former intelligence officer David Grusch claimed that the government had long been involved in a program to investigate and retrieve non-human craft crashes, and then try to reverse engineer them. However Grusch did not show any evidence.&nbsp; The UAP Disclosure Act of 2024 was signed into law by Joe Biden in December 2023. It plans to oversee the public disclosure of UFO information. However, there is a clause in it that prevents disclosure if it would cause threats to military defense, intelligence operations or foreign relations.&nbsp; It is unlikely that the declassified documents about sightings in the Himalayan will cause any real surprise about definite evidence of alien life even if it was found. It seems humanity will continue, at least for now, to wonder about curious lights in the sky and whether there is anybody out there.&nbsp;

UFO over Pokhara

When Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) president Rabi Lamichhane was arrested in October on charges of defrauding depositors of cooperatives, the party’s vice president Swarnim Wagle gifted him Fareed Zakaria’s book, Age of Revolutions.
Since then, Lamichhane has been shunted around from Kathmandu to Pokhara to Chitwan and back to Pokhara to attend police investigations and court proceedings. He was being flown to Birganj via Kathmandu on Buddha Air on Monday. There is another pending case in Janakpur.
Human rights groups and civil society have criticised the government for hounding Lamichhane with inhumane treatment that borders on physical torture. The two parties in the coalition, Nepali Congress (NC) and the UML, see Lamichhane’s RSP as a potentially formidable challenge to their power.
Even if the fraud charges against Lamichhane are true, the Nepali public is increasingly looking at the government’s actions through the police and courts as political vendetta.
Despite all the travelling, sometimes by plane and often by road at night, Lamichhane appears to be in high spirits, waving to supporters who often gather if they know he is going to be driven around. A social media video shows him giving high fives to fellow passengers on a recent flight to Pokhara.&nbsp;
In the past weeks, streets in Pokhara have erupted with parallel protests by Lamichhane’s supporters as well as depositors of cooperatives who lost their savings to the scam.&nbsp;
Although family visits are allowed, prison officials in Pokhara told Nepali Times that not many people visit Lamichhane these days. He added, “When he does get visitors, he asks them to bring him books.”
Lamichhane is currently Nepal’s most high-profile public figure in custody, and highlights the stark difference between how influential prisoners are treated compared to ordinary inmates.
There are six prison cells at Kaski District Police Office’s two-story detention centre, three on each floor. And while authorities pack prisoners into already overcrowded cells, Lamichhane has an entire room on the second floor to himself.&nbsp;
He has also been allowed to call his family every few days. Other prisoners are not permitted phone calls except for emergencies.
Meanwhile, Lamichhane’s former business partner Chhabilal Joshi, an ex-Deputy Inspector General of Police with whom he established his Gorkha Media Network, is in custody under the same charges in the prison cell next to him.
Lamichhane is accused of siphoning off depositors' money to the tv network in which he was part-owner and anchor. &nbsp;
Both Lamichhane and Joshi are able to buy food from the police canteen instead of being served the regular meal like other prisoners. Joshi has also given his statement to authorities in Rupandehi and Kathmandu for his alleged role in the scam. Lamichhane is yet to be presented in Kathmandu for questioning.
While he was in custody at the Kathmandu District Police Complex, Joshi expressed his desire to sleep in a police officer’s office, reportedly assuring authorities that he would not run away and he was entitled to certain facilities as a former officer of the law.
“He seemed to be under the impression that he is still a police officer,” says a source at the Kathmandu District Police. “We made it clear to him that as someone accused of a crime, he was not entitled to special treatment.”
Former ministers Balkrishna Khand and Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, and ex-home secretary Tek Narayan Pandey, who were arrested in connection with the fake refugee scam last year, were similarly housed in the offices of law enforcement officials instead of prison cells. Khand has since been released after six months in jail.
While there is no legal provision to keep high-ranking officials in separate detention centres when they are arrested, authorities granting them special facilities is not uncommon. Law enforcement officials say VIP detainees expect preferential treatment while in police custody.
Among those is former Kosi Province minister Lila Ballav Adhikari, who was arrested from Biratnagar on 10 November over his alleged involvement in human trafficking and brought to Kathmandu. Adhikari had flown to Japan without government approval with three individuals on 29 October to attend a cultural conference, but had been sent back to Nepal from Narita.&nbsp;
His three companions were arrested at Kathmandu airport upon their arrival, but Adhikari was able to exit unscathed from the VIP lounge. Adhikari had resigned as the Kosi Province Minister for Internal Affairs and Law when it became public that his companions had been taken into custody, and was himself arrested shortly after. He has since been cleared by the courts.
Throughout his detention, Adhikari was kept separately from other inmates. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Basant Rajouri, head of the Bhadrakali complex, says that while there is no separate detention area for VIPs, some detainees are kept separately depending on the nature of their crime.
However, sources say that arrangements were made for retired judges and others to visit Adhikari frequently worked at the office of a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) during his time in custody.&nbsp;
“He used to constantly pester the authorities to let him sit outside in the sun, and to be able to use the police officer’s shower area,” added an officer.
Adhikari was released on 25 November after the government prosecutor’s office decided not to charge him in a move that was seen to expose the government’s double standards.
Over at Kathmandu’s Dilli Bazar Prison, former Kist Bank CEO Kamal Gyawali emerges from his prison cell into the courtyard of the prison’s ‘Ka (क)’ block every morning with a thick book in his hands, ready to give his daily sermon.
With his long beard, Gyawali, who is serving a prison sentence for banking fraud, looks the part of a religious guru as he implores his rapt listeners to “walk the right path, abandon bad thoughts and turn to scripture and spirituality”.&nbsp;
Afterward, the attendees gather to discuss politics and current affairs. Inmates at his daily sermons at the prison include other high-profile detainees, including former MP Ichchha Raj Tamang, who is in jail for money laundering and cooperatives fraud, former joint secretary Chudamani Sharma, who was convicted of corruption, as well as NC leader Chandra Bahadur Lama and Krishna Bahadur Upreti of the UML both of whom are on trial for embezzling billions of rupees.
Victims of the cooperatives scam that former lawmaker Tamang was involved in have made trips to the prison and requested visits, but he has refused to meet with any of them.
“Tamang often complains that the state has prevented him from returning the money to the victims by locking him up,” says a police officer at the Dili Bazar jail.
“All you hear every day from the VIP prisoners is that they have been framed,” adds the officer. “No one admits that they were involved in misdeeds.”
But while most high-profile prisoners complain about prison conditions, one exception is former provincial lawmaker Deepak Manange, who is serving a sentence at Dilli Bazar Jail for attempted murder.
“He is the happiest prisoner here,” says a warden. “Unlike the others, he doesn’t claim to have been framed, in fact he doesn’t seem to care that he is in prison.”
Manange is detained in the ‘Kha (ख)’ block of the prison complex, which he renovated at his own expense. The block previously housed female prisoners, but Manange used his influence to transfer them elsewhere. He faces no shortage of visitors, who range from political leaders to people from the underworld.
Along with Manange, other well-known prisoners in this block include Nepal Telecom Managing Director Sunil Poudel, and former executive director of the Surakshan Printing Centre Bikal Poudel, who are serving time for corruption.
Former prisoners at Dilli Bazar prison include ex-ministers Khum Bahadur Khadka and Shyam Sundar Gupta, NC leader Ganesh Lama, Maoist MP Balkrishna Dhungel, Nagarik Unmukti Party leader Resham Chaudhary, as well as former IGs Ramesh Chand Thakuri, Om Bikram Rana, and Hem Bahadur Gurung.
Section 54 of Nepal’s Prison Act assigns each prison’s internal administration the
responsibility of governing its prisoners, which means the more favourable the jail management is, the more comfortable it is for prisoners.
Dilli Bazar prison has been the prison of choice for many high-ranking prisoners, especially those convicted of white collar crimes, due to its more accommodating administrators. The prison, which has the capacity to house 700 inmates, is also less crowded than other jails.
Anuj Bhattarai, spokesperson of the Department of Prison Management, says that there is no legal classification in Nepal for felons to be assigned prisons based on the nature of their crimes.
“That Dilli Bazar Jail has a higher number of prisoners convicted of crimes like corruption is most likely a coincidence,” says Bhattarai. “There is no provision for influential people to be able to choose where they will be incarcerated.”&nbsp;
Translated by Shristi Karki from the Nepali original published in himalkhabar.com

What Nepal’s VIP prisoners do in jail

If you were raised in Nepal, you must have picked up its unique set of vocabulary: आन्दोलन, चक्का जाम, बन्द, राँके जुलुस, आफ्नो मान्छे, हाम्रो दल, कर्फु and many more words connoting political protest.
We became familiar with the acrid smell of burning tyres, and eyes smarting from tear gas. And yet, everyone speaks of another revolution in the making. Not by desire, but by suffocation.
We heard speeches about नयाँ नेपाल, but the New Nepal never arrived. The governance system changed, but it did not reflect on people’s lives — except for those close to centres of power. The state is still unreachable and is not bothered about <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/matter-of-life-and-debt">victims of loan sharks</a>, cooperative scams and other injustices.
Politicians continue to speak in sound bites, but fail to deliver. They have mastered the game of pointing fingers towards an external enemy and convincing people that they are never at fault. The political narrative is so disconnected from the actual analysis of the problem that suffocation doesn’t go away after every revolution.
No genuine effort has been made to deliver at all, which is why there is a palpable sense of disillusionment in the air forcing us to seek another revolution, even if Nepal may not be able to afford it.
How has the current system successfully held power, even if the public is deeply frustrated? How is it that for three decades we continue to be led by the same faces, who have time and again, proved to us that they may be great politicians but not national leaders?
<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/improving-internet-governance-in-nepal">My experience at the epicentre of politics</a> has led me to identify three cultures that have enabled political parties to keep a tight hold on power: acceptance, silence and dependency.
We accept things the way they are. We use fatalistic phrases like “नेपालमा यस्तै हो” or “नेपालको कानुन दैब जानुन”. While this resilience enables us to rise back up from devastating calamities, it is also a reason for our compliance with the status quo.
Despite so many ‘revolutions’ that have led to significant reforms, these phrases keep getting reinforced, to the point that the upcoming generations have made it their lingo.&nbsp;
This acceptance is not a symbol of law-abiding citizens, but citizens living in fear of those in power, unable to ask the whys and why-nots.
Innovation suffocates in this culture of acceptance of the status quo. This is manifested in remarks like “but we don’t have any laws for this,” or “we don’t have the capacity to implement this”. An innovator or entrepreneur therefore has to spend that energy to become a political lobbyist, often educating and convincing the bureaucracy.&nbsp;
Remember when locally assembled <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/designed-and-made-in-nepal">Yatri motorbikes</a>, despite having willing customers, had to suffer to secure license numbers because of a lack of regulations? Instead of creating new laws, the government kept chanting the “We will promote Nepal-made goods” mantra, leaving entrepreneurs in a labyrinth of bureaucracy. The weight of acceptance of the law lies heavily on innovators. Fatalism is a tactic used by those in power to generate mass fear in society.
When we accept, we become silent. This is a pervasive phenomenon. We are trained to keep quiet, lest we ruffle feathers, burn bridges, or not get the help we need in future. We know, yet we don’t speak.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/bureaucratic-hurdles-in-researching-nepals-bureaucracy">Bureaucratic hurdles in researching Nepal's bureaucracy</a>, Daniel W Edwards
Here is one example: the 2021 census shows that the number of baby boys born for every 100 baby girls is 112. This is a clear indication of female foeticide because of boy preference in society.
Despite such horrifying realities, there is finger-pointing within the government between the Ministry of Health and Population with the Ministry of Home Affairs. At the citizen level, we know those who are involved in killing girls. Yet, we don’t speak up. The Nepal Medical Council reports state that despite this gender imbalance at birth, there is no indication of any action.
But why would anyone speak against one's own fraternity, no matter how vile the act is?
When we accept and keep quiet, we become dependent on those who yield power. From getting our government procedure completed on time to getting transfers, to accessing any of our legally protected rights as well, we are forced to depend on our networks of चिनेको मान्छे people we know by blood, village, relations, political affiliation.
The culture of dependency has been the established way in Nepal. If you drive a two-wheeler or four-wheeler, and you get into a small accident, you will be asked to sort it yourself, dialing up the most powerful person you know. It becomes a competition of who knows who.
Recently I was told that there were calls from the Ministry of Health and Population and another from the Prime Minister's Office for just one medical position in a private hospital. Each was pushing its own candidate. Guess which candidate got the position.&nbsp;
The dependency of people is not on the laws or the state, it is with people in power, a reliance on the network of somebody who knows somebody, including those not officially in power.
These cultures are deeply ingrained in our heads, and in society. Collectively they form a vicious circle that helps those in power to retain power. This is not the society we want to live in.
Then, what do we do as a collective to break away from this? How do we break away from the cultures of acceptance and silence that have created this dependency? What can we do to ensure that our children do not have to learn the jargon of आन्दोलन before they learn about the state?
These are the cultures political parties need to shed rather than use them to perpetuate their power. This is what <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/an-alternative-to-alternative-politics-in-nepal">alternative politics</a> needs to be about.
Sumana Shrestha is a member of Parliament’s Education, Health and Information Technology parliamentary committee and represents the Rastriya Swatantara Party.

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