China to ban non-eco friendly tourist vehicles around Mt Everest base camp

China has made a strict move to check the pollution level around the world’s highest mountain peak, Mt Everest, to preserve its sensitive ecology. According to the news reports, China is planning to put a ban on polluting tourist vehicles visiting the Mount Everest in Tibet starting from 2019. This action is a part of China’s efforts to cut down pollution in the region.
Therefore, all those tourist vehicles that do not meet the anti-pollution norms will be barred from entering Mt Everest base camp. Reportedly, golf-style buggies run on electricity will be allowed to visit the region in order to help the locals earn a livelihood.


Local people living below the poverty line will be permitted to work as tour guides and drive the buggies to ferry the tourists. This will also help curb pollution in the area.
Mr. Wangqiong, the deputy chief of Tingri Tibetan County, stated that the Mt Everest area has a delicate ecology and a finite capacity to process all the trash and sewage generated by the tourists. Therefore, this issue needs to be taken care of very mindfully. Wangqiong shared that a specialist cleaning company has been assigned the task to look after the region. Furthermore, each visitor will be given trash bags to facilitate the clean-up.

Since April 2018, a lot of human excreta, about a ton of mountaineering waste and many tons of household trash have been cleaned from Mt Everest. As reported by a Chinese news daily, about a lakh tourists comprising of 40,000 mountaineers and trekkers visited the Everest region in 2017.